


Finding Home

by coldfeet4



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Actual Dad Phil Coulson, Actual Mom Melinda May, F/M, John Garrett is not a nice man, Kid!Fic, May and Phil are married, and adopt lots of children, mentions of child abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 22:18:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3745408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldfeet4/pseuds/coldfeet4
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seven year old Skye is moving foster-homes. Again. This time, though, the people who take her in are loving stay-at home dad Phil Coulson, Melinda May-Coulson, and their two kids Leopold and Jemma. Skye doesn't have high hopes for this family, convinced they'll just send her away, too. But Phil and Melinda are determined to give her the life she deserves, while still keeping her safe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was beta-ed by my broski Lonnie. I know he has an AO3 account, but I don't know the name of it.

Skye watched the neighbourhood fly past out the car window, taking in the sight of happy families; parents home with their kids for the weekend and playing with pets. She felt a ping of jealousy towards those kids. Why did they get to be safe at home while she doesn’t even know if she has a home for sure? Looking to the front of the SUV, Skye watched Mrs. May-Coulson drive and Mr. Coulson sing to the old timey music on the radio. They seemed nice, but a lot of the families who’d taken her in before were nice, too, and Skye always ended up being sent away by them. This wouldn’t be any different, and she was set on not getting attached. She would not cry when they sent her away this time. 

Melinda looked back at Skye in the rear view mirror, glaring out the window and kicking her feet in her booster seat. She could practically hear Skye convincing herself they’d give her back up in no time at all. She glowered a bit about that, and decided to attempt a conversation with the girl.

“So, Skye, have you had foster-siblings before?” Skye was surprised that Melinda was talking to her. She hadn’t done that a lot during the interviews back at the orphanage. She mostly just watched Skye then, and the girl had assumed that she hadn’t like her that much. The last family’s mom hadn’t liked her either. That’s why she was sent back.

“Yeah. A lot of the foster families had kids of their own. They always treated me different from their real kids. You said you had real kids, right?” Melinda turned onto a dead end street, and Skye’s heart leapt into her throat. She hadn’t been to their house before, but they had to be getting really close. 

“Well, all kids are real kids,” Phil half turned in his seat to look at her, “That includes you. And, yeah we have kids at home. Their names are Leo and Jemma. You’ll like them, they’re great.”

“How old are they?”

“They’re your age, actually.” Melinda replied, smiling softly at her, “We adopted them when they were much younger.”

“Jemma has done nothing but talk about how excited she is to have a sister.” Phil laughed, and pointed to a house. A woman and two kids Skye’s age were standing on the porch. The boy was hiding behind the woman’s legs and the girl was bouncing on the balls of her feet, “And here we are. That’s Leo and Jemma, and our friend Maria.” Melinda pulled into the driveway, and Skye shrunk down into her seat but still tried to peak over the edge of the window. Phil opened the door to help Skye out of her booster seat, but she was already fiddling with the buckle. He reached over to help her.

“No! I can do it!” He smiled and took his hand away, letting her struggle with it. She was pressing on the button, scowling at the words ‘child-proof’. Melinda was standing on the porch, holding Leo’s hand.

“Are you two coming?”

“We’ll be there in a second, Mel.” Leo looked into the car with interest.

“Is that her?”

“Yes, Leo, that’s Skye. She’s really nervous, so make her feel welcome.” Leo let go of Melinda’s hand, and grabbed Jemma’s as she ran up to the car to watch Skye get out. Maria walked up next to Melinda.

“The Director still thinks this won’t work. He’s kept everything to move her at the ready. All you’ll have to do is call th—”

“Maria, this will work. We’ll make it work, no matter what.” Maria sighed, watching the scene by the SUV. 

“I hope you’re right, May.”

“It’s not a matter of right or wrong. It’s a matter of doing it.” 

“No, I can get this!” Skye’s voice rose as she continued to struggle with the buckle.

“I gave you a shot at getting it, Skye, but it’s time to go in the house. Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out eventually.” Skye groaned in frustration as Phil undid the buckle, and let her out. 

“I almost had it. If it wasn’t child-proofed-“

“Sorry, that’s my fault.” Leo stepped forward to introduce himself, and Skye suddenly remembered her fears. She stepped away from him, clutching her skirt in her fists, “I broke the last one, so Mom and Dad got a really hard one.”

“Well, I don’t really need a booster seat. I’m big enough to sit in a car without one. So I won’t have to worry about that stupid buckle.” Skye put up a false bravado.

“You might think you’re big enough to go without, but the law says you aren’t, which means you aren’t. Sorry, Skye.” Phil grabbed Skye’s bag and closed the door.

“But-“

“Skye, I’m Jemma! Let’s go in the house, we can show you your room and then we can play! Me and Leo were playing scientists!”

“What’s scientists?” Skye looked between the two other kids with interest.

“It’s like playing house, but we pretend the swing set is a lab instead of a house.” Leo explained, “And we have to fix problems.”

“Like world hunger!” Jemma interjected excitedly. 

“We say you can eat play-dough, but Aunt Maria won’t let us try it.” Melinda opened the front door, and everyone filed in.

“Leo, putting it into the shape of food will not make it food.” 

“Don’t eat play-dough, kids.” Phil ordered as he ascended the stairs. “Skye, your room is up here.”

“Wait, do I have my own room?” Skye’s eyes lit up, and she dashed up the stairs past Phil. She found a door with a little plaque on it. It said “Skye’s Room” and its background was little clouds and a sun and moon smiled at each other from opposite sides. She pushed the door open and looked in. The walls were crème, and the bed had white sheets and a light blue comforter, with matching curtains and rug on the hardwood floor. A small toy-box sat next to a dresser. Skye walked in slowly, her heart pounding in her ears. Her face felt like it was burning, and tears welled up in her eyes. Phil walked past her, and started unpacking her bag into the dresser. 

“We can take you shopping tomorrow for things if you want. Toys, more clothes, a different bedspread and curtains and stuff if you don’t like these ones. Anything you need to feel at home. Speaking of feeling at home, is there anything specific you want for dinner tonight—“ Phil turned to Skye at the sound of crying. She was wiping at her eye furiously, blushing and trying not to let him see her face, “Skye, what’s wrong?” He knelt down in front of her, reaching up to take her hands away from her face. 

“I haven’t had a room before, it’s so cool.” She looked at Phil uncertain, “Can I stay here?”

“Well, that’s the purpose of a room, isn’t it?” He smiled at her, tickling her sides. She burst out laughing, and Phil pulled her into his lap and tickled her more. She laughed until she was crying again, and Melinda came up to see what all the ruckus was. Phil was still playing with Skye and they didn’t notice her.

“You two having fun?” She asked, leaning on the doorframe. Phil smiled up at her, but Skye grew still, staring up at Melinda fearfully.

“You bet we are.” Melinda looked at Phil’s happy face, and Skye’s terrified one. She sighed, and Phil looked at Skye in confusion, noticing it too, “Let’s go downstairs, Skye, I’m sure Jemma and Leo are just dying to play with you.”

“Okay!” Skye jumped off of Phil’s lap, walking slowly past Melinda and dashing down the stairs.

“She doesn’t like me.”

“She likes you! She’s just nervous,” Melinda looked unconvinced, “You know, last time Skye had to be moved, the mom had to play the bad guy. It’s not you, Mel. She’ll warm up to you once she figures out that we aren’t going to send her away.”

“How long will that take?” She walked away before Phil could answer.

“Mel, why don’t you take her shopping tomorrow? One on one time will be good for you both.”

“That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

“Nonsense. It’s a great idea. By tomorrow night, you’ll Skye’s favourite person on the planet.” Melinda could tell from his voice that Phil already had his heart set on this. 

“Alright, fine. I’ll take her shopping tomorrow.”

“You won’t regret it.”

“The kids are hungry by the way. What’s for dinner?”

“I’m thinking spaghetti and meatballs. It’s simple but homey.” Phil ducked into the dining room, “Hey, who wants spaghetti and meatballs?”

“Me!” Jemma and Leo’s voices came out in sync, but Skye didn’t answer.

“Skye? Are you good with that?”

“Mmhmm,” Melinda walked into the room as Skye gave her reply and the girl’s face become sheepish, “I mean, yes thank you, Mr. Coulson.”

Phil stopped on his way into the kitchen, looking at Maria and Melinda.

“Mr. Coulson is a little formal, don’t you think Skye. Phil will do. Or, hey, even Dad.” He tried to make his voice as gentle as possible. Skye looked at her hands in her lap, and nodded but said nothing. Maria shot Melinda a skeptical look, who pretended she didn’t see it.

“What are you three playing?” Melinda leaned over Leo’s chair.

“Scientist.” He showed her the cards in his hands, and they were Uno cards, “These are our money that we need to use to buy our lab. Aunt Maria owns it right now, but we almost have enough to get it.”

“Oh, and how are you getting the money?”

“Aunt Maria’s the bank!” Jemma piped in, laying out her hand of Uno cards, “We have to come up with good ideas to sell to her, and she gives us money to buy our lab to make our ideas real!”

“Sounds like extortion.”

Skye gasped dramatically, standing in her chair, “Exortion, oh no! This whole place will blow!” Jemma stood up, too.

“The bombs going to go off in thirty seconds! We have to get out of here!” She shouted gleefully. Both girls jumped from their chairs, Jemma grabbing Skye and pulling her towards the living room.

“I don’t think that’s what that word means.” Leo murmured. Jemma came back for Leo.

“Don’t just sit there, dummy, come on, it’s going to extort! We only have ten seconds left! Mom, do a countdown, do a count down!”

“Ten.” Jemma started running in slow motion, and Leo followed her example, laughing, “Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two—”

The kids started flat out running and threw themselves onto the couch, shouting “BOOM!” 

Maria shook her head, smiling, “Will this house survive those all three of those kids?” 

“Of course it will.” Melinda replied. She moved to look into the living room, and watch the kids, “Did everyone make it?”

“Nuh uh, Aunt Maria didn’t.” Leo pointed to the woman still holding the Uno cards, “This is where she dramatically dies, like the villians in the movies.” Jemma looked at her expectantly.

“Sorry, kids, I don’t think so.” Maria responded, “I’m going to check on your dad.” 

The kids kept bouncing around the living room until Melinda sent them outside to play in the yard, worried about the glass coffee table in the room. She joined Maria and Phil in the kitchen.

“She’s just afraid right now, Maria. She’ll warm up to us alright. This is not the wrong thing to do, and I don’t particularly like that you keep inferring otherwise.”

“Look, Phil, I just don’t want you to get too attached just for the plan to fail. I mean, what if we have to move her again! It’s not like we can pack up the whole Coulson household and move it cross country.”

“Why not?” Coulson turned away from the stove to stare Maria down.

“Because Leo and Jemma don’t deserve to have their whole lives disrupted.”

“But Skye does? Listen Maria, Skye is our daughter now. And I will do anything to keep her here!” He looked to Melinda for support.

“We’ll do our best, Phil. But if something does happen...” Melinda kissed him when he slouched, looking defeated. She looked at Maria as she finished. Maria sighed and shook her head.

“You two are really a pair, you know that. It’s almost easier dealing with Stark.” Phil snorted, turning back to the stove to stir the sauce he was making. A timer for the noodles went off, and Melinda busied herself with straining it, “I have to get going.” She walked into the hallway to the front door when she saw someone move in the living room. She turned on the light, and found Skye half hiding behind the couch.

“I thought you were outside.”

“I had to go potty.” 

“Were you eavesdropping?”

“No, ma’am. I was waiting to ask where the bathroom was. I didn’t want to make anyone mad.” Maria sighed, shaking her head and walking out, pointing upstairs as she went.

“There are bathrooms upstairs, across from Jemma’s room.” Skye quickly thanked her, and rushed off to the bathroom. Maria cursed under her breath and left. Phil and Melinda finished setting the table, and called the kids in to eat.

After dinner the kids were put to bed. Phil was in the bathroom adjacent to the master bedroom, brushing his teeth. Melinda was doing a cool down set, moving slowly. 

“Today went well.” Phil offered. He saw Melinda looking at him through the mirror. He put his brush away and sat on the bed watching her.

“I mean, she warmed up to Jemma and Leo really well.” He was quiet for a few seconds, “They are really great kids, we’ve done a good job so far. Haven’t we?” She glanced at him, moving one hand slowly closer to her body, the other moving out away from her, “You’re right. We’ve done amazing. And it’ll be the same for Skye. I’m worrying too much. Maria’s getting to me.” Phil lay down, picking his book up off of his night stand, “You always know what to say, Melinda.”

She rolled her eyes, smiling. When she was done, Phil put his book and reading glasses aside. She got in bed next to him, cuddling up close and laying her head on his chest, over his heart. Phil dropped off almost immediately, and Melinda stayed close; she was listening to his heartbeat and breathing as they slowed down. After a while, she was asleep, too. 

Jemma snuck past their room, peeking in to be sure they were both really asleep before leading Leo down the hall to Skye’s room. They tapped on the door, pushing it open a crack to whisper in to her.

“Hey, Skye, are you asleep?”

“No,” Skye sat up in bed to look at the two, “I can’t.”

“Are you scared?” Leo asked.

“I’m not scared of anything?”

“’Cause if you’re scared, me and Jemma could stay in here with you.”

“We were really scared when we first came here.”

“And we had each other.”

“But you came here alone. So we thought,” Jemma and Leo walked over to the side of her bed, holding hands, “Maybe you wouldn’t mind if we stayed here.”

Skye stared at the two of them for a moment hoping they didn’t see how relieved she looked, before moving over and looking at them defensively, “If you guys are scared that I’ll be sad than you should stay here so you can see how not sad I am.”

“Okay, sounds good to me.” They crawled up into the bed with her, all three of them getting comfortable below the covers. They lay in silence for a while, before Skye sat back up.

“So are we supposed to be siblings now?”

“I think so. Me and Leo were kind of always together, even before Mom and Dad adopted us. It feels weird. Like, it feels like a sleepover.” Jemma was fiddling with a stuffed animal that’d been on Skye’s bed, “Like, you’ll go home tomorrow.”

“I don’t want to go back again. Have you ever been sent back?”

“No, never.” Leo said quickly, sounding happy, “We got taken in by Mom and Dad almost immediately. Like they were waiting for us, or something.” 

“It’s nice. We’ve heard that some kids never get adopted.” Jemma crinkled her nose, “They just move around all the time, and no one wants to keep them.” She looked up at Skye, whose eyes were large and filled with tears, “You won’t move around, though. Mom and Dad won’t let that happen.”

“A lot of people have said that to me. All of them were wrong. No one wants me.” Leo tilted his head to look at her, too.

“We do.”

“Who?”

“Me and Jemma. We want you. You’re fun,” Leo looked up at her ceiling, “You should ask Dad if you can get sticky stars.” Skye didn’t respond, and they were quiet. They were starting to drift off when Skye spoke again.

“I was scared.”

“What?” Jemma murmured.

“When you guys first came in. I was really scared. I’m glad you stayed.”

“’F course. You’ll see Skye, we’ll all stay together, forever.” Leo turned to look at Skye again.

“Promise?”

“Cross my heart,” Leo started saying.

“Hope to die,” Jemma finished. 

Not long after, all three were out like lights. None of them heard the door creak open and Melinda leaned in to check on the noise. She approached the bed, pulling the blanket up over the kids some more. She brushed a curl out of Leo’s eye, and pulled a strand of hair from Jemma’s mouth. Staring down at Skye, she frowned lightly before leaning down to kiss her forehead softly. Melinda let herself leave after that. If it was just the kids making noise, than she didn’t need to worry about anything. Still, she’d sleep better if she did one quick perimeter check.

In the morning, Phil went to wake Skye up to get her ready for her shopping trip, and found the three kids in a bundle. He was considering letting them sleep in when Melinda walked up behind him. 

“Wow, this seems like the kind of thing most parents would take a picture of and use to embarrass their kids later in life.” Phil smiled at her.

“That’s what I was thinking.” Melinda responded. He pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures of them, before waking them up. After some grumbling and elbowing, Jemma and Leo had gone back to their own rooms to get dressed and fix their hair.

The kids played outside again while Phil made breakfast, and Melinda stood by the window watching them and drinking her coffee.

“They act like they grew up together. Phil, should I bring Jemma and Leo with us to the store?” Melinda tapped the side of her mug, “I don’t think Skye will like being alone with me.”

“It’ll be better if you two just go alone. Like I said, one on one time.” He put the last piece of French toast onto a plate, “Call the kids in, please?”

After breakfast, Melinda took Skye out to get in the car. The girl followed her silently like a prisoner to the chair. 

She sat still as Melinda buckled her into the infamous booster seat, looking surprised when Melinda spoke to her.

“Want to try the buckle again?” Skye looked at the cursed thing, and shook her head, saying nothing as they drove away from the house. Melinda turning her head slightly to look back at Skye, trying to gauge her feelings. The girl was scared, alone with the silent bad-y without Phil there to protect her. She had only lived with her for less than a day, but she already knew that Skye hated letting people see her be weak. If Phil had offered, she would have readily agreed to try to clasp the buckle herself. Turning a corner, Melinda promised herself that she would get rid of Skye’s fear of her. She did it with Leo and Jemma, and she isn’t going to let Skye down.

That meant she had to get Skye to warm up to her. Unfortunately, that meant making conversation. Melinda hated conversation. 

“So, Skye? What do you think of our home so far?”

“It’s nice.”

“Do you like living there?”

“Yeah,” Skye waited for Melinda to ask another question, but when none came to offered more to her answer, “Having a room is really cool, but it’s darker at night than I thought it would be.”

“Do you want to get a nightlight?”

“Only babies are afraid of the dark.” Melinda didn’t respond, and Skye didn’t say anything further, so the rest of the drive lapsed into silence. In her mind, Melinda chalked another tally under ‘Skye’s afraid of failure.’ 

When they got to the store, Melinda led Skye to the girls section and started sorting through clothes, presenting shirts and dresses to Skye. With a pink dress in hand Melinda turned to Skye to ask her if she liked it, but the girl wasn’t there. Looking in a circle around herself, Melinda swore under her breathe. She hadn’t expected her to wonder off, Jemma and Leo never did. Throwing the dress into the cart, she paced around the girls section, checked in the bathroom, and the fitting room. She was getting ready to have store security call her up to the front desk when she turned around and found Skye standing behind her again.

“Skye! Are you okay? Where have you been? I was starting to worry,” Skye didn’t look at her, keeping her eyes on the cloth in her hands, “What is that?” Skye unfolded it to show her. Melinda let out a small frustrated groan, recognizing the familiar red, white, and blue circle. Phil was definitely leaving his mark on Skye.

“They didn’t have any in the girls section, so I went to the boys section to find one. I got lost on my back. I’m sorry.”

Melinda sighed, shaking her head but was relieved.

“You like Captain America?” Her voice was neutral, not angry or annoyed. 

“Mr. Coulson does.” Skye put the shirt against her chest, looking up at Melinda, “If he thinks he’s cool, than he’s probably really cool.”

“Have you tried it on yet?”

“No.” 

“Put it in the cart, you can try it on in a moment. There are other clothes I’d like to know if you like.” Skye smiled, and put the shirt in the cart, standing on the metal bracket on the bottom to see into the cart. Melinda pulled out several shirt and skirt combos and several pairs of pants, showing them to Skye and putting aside the ones she made faces at. Skye looked into the cart and say the pink dress, and pointed to it.

“Is that one of them, too?” Melinda picked it up, and turned it around to look at, before holding it up to Skye.

“I didn’t really think about it. I just threw it in there when I noticed you were missing. Do you like it?”

“It’s really pretty.” Skye reached out to take it from Melinda. 

“Alright. I think we have enough options to go to the fitting room.” She put the clothes Skye’d liked, and stood at the front of the cart, “Want to ride on the end of the cart?” 

“Can I?” 

“No, I just offered to get your hopes up.” Melinda tried to joke with her but Skye just looked confused, “It was a joke. Get on the end, I’ll go fast.” Skye smiled, and dashed to the end of the cart and hopped up. Melinda speed walked to the fitting room, Skye laughing the whole way. She jumped off the end at the fitting room, still smiling. Melinda gathered the clothes again and got an employee to unlock a fitting room for them. 

When Skye tried on the pink dress, she spent a several minutes looking at herself in the mirror, spinning so that the skirt would lift up and spiral around her when she stopped. It was endearing, and when Skye caught Melinda staring at her through the mirror, she skipped over to her, and spun in front of her.

“Is it cute? Do I look cute?” She looked down at her sneakers, and frowned, “They don’t match but that doesn’t matter. The shoes don’t ruin the dress, do they?”

“It’s very cute. If you want, we can look at shoes, too. Find some that match it.”

“Really?” Skye started jumping excitedly. Melinda sent her to get changed back into her clothes, and to start bringing the clothes back to the cart. A woman in a flower printed dress smiled at Melinda as she walked past.

“Your daughter is simply adorable.” She paused to look at Skye again, “She’ll be a real heartbreaker when she’s older, won’t she?” 

“Much older, if I have anything to say about it.” The woman laughed.

“Can I ask her name?”

“Skye.”

“Yeah?” Skye came out of the fitting room, the clothes bundled in her arm. 

“Skye. What a pretty name.” Melinda made Skye thank her for the compliment before they headed for the shoe section.

The woman watched them walk away, eyes following them as they moved away.

“So that’s why we couldn’t get her.” 

Melinda got the feeling of someone staring at her, but there was no one in the aisle when she turned to check. She shrugged her discomfort off, and followed Skye to the shoes. She started walking again, Skye walking after her slowly. 

After Skye had picked the shoes she wanted, and they were walking to the checkout. Skye was starting to fall behind Melinda. Melinda stopped and waited for her, turning to ask if she was tired. Skye looked up at her, and a determined look passed over her face. Smiling widely, she skipped up ahead of the cart, pulling it forwards a little. Skye stayed in front of the cart until she stopped to look at something sitting on the bottom shelf of a display rack. A pack of glow in the dark stars was sitting in a discount bin, marked down, and it was the last pack there. Skye picked them up for a moment, and looked at the pictures, than set it back down. 

“What are those?” Melinda asked, stopping to wait for Skye.

“Sticky stars. Leo was talking about them yesterday.”

“Did he want more of them? He has over a hundred already.”

“No, he was saying I should get some. I don’t like the colour, though.” Melinda walked back to the display and picked them up.

“How you seen them in the dark yet?”

“No,” Skye looked at them again, “Wouldn’t they be the same?”

“You should check out Leo’s room tonight before bed. If you like them, we can get you some.”

“Mmmk.” Skye and Melinda paid and went out to the car, and Melinda noticed that when she helped Skye with the booster seat she didn’t argue or struggle once.

“Feeling tired?” Skye nodded her head, “Want to get some food before you go to sleep?”

“I’m not asleep. Can I have a milkshake?”

“Yes, Skye, you can get a milkshake.” Melinda had to wake Skye up when they got to the fast food joint, but she moved lethargically, and kept yawning. Inside, Skye wandered to a booth and laid down on the cushion.

“I know you’re tired, but I’m going to have to ask you to sit up,” Melinda ruffled Skye’s hair after she did. 

“’Right, sorry.”

“Milkshakes aren’t a meal on their own, what else do you want?”

“One of the meals with toys in them? But a boys toy? Boys get robots.”

Melinda ordered the food, returning to find Skye practically asleep with her head resting on the table. She set down the food, and shook Skye awake.

“Foods here.” Skye picked her head up, rubbing her eyes wearily. The first thing she grabbed was her milkshake, sipping from it for several moments before she remembered she had gotten other food, too. She reached into the box, pulling out fries and nuggets, then eating them one by one. Melinda had already finished her salad by the time Skye had downed her nuggets and noticed the toy. Patiently, Melinda watched Skye repeatedly offer fries to her little robot man before eating them herself. Melinda let her mind wonder, not wanting to rush Skye, scanning the building. She could feel herself being watched again, like in the store. She looked out through a window, and a black sedan with tinted windows pulled away quickly. Standing, Melinda took a few steps to the window to watch the vehicle, telling herself she was being paranoid. Still, better not to stick around.

“Skye, time to go.” Soft snores were the only response she got. Melinda made herself relax, realizing that she’d been waiting for a sleeping kid to finish eating. She threw away the trash, grabbed the toy, and pulled Skye up into her arms. 

At least she wouldn’t have to talk on the way home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raina gets to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beta-ed by WordSmithBreaker
> 
> It took me a while because I had to finish the semester (tests and all that jazz), then I had to finish the chapter itself, then get it beta-ed, than I lost my internet for a week, but here it is. Finally. After almost, what, three months?

Coulson had Leo and Jemma sitting with him on the couch, one on each side with an arm around both of their shoulders. He had spent many nights like this with them waiting for Melinda to get back from a ‘business trip’. At least, that’s what the higher ups had him and Melinda tell the kids that’s what they were. Sometimes it bothered Phil, Melinda being out on missions still. It bothered him that she wouldn’t just ask for a switch into administration, and no one would suggest that she do that. Phil and Melinda, their assignment was to watch talented kids—who could someday be great assets to S.H.E.I.L.D.—and make sure they grew up safe. They had no business leaving these kids—who could be targets of Hydra’s, or various other shady organizations, young “recruitment” programs—unprotected so that some briefcase or important guy in a suit could be watched, stolen, or taken out by any active field agent duty. Phil was certain that they didn’t need Melinda, they just wanted her.

‘But,’ Phil thought, tussling Leo’s curls, ‘We aren’t waiting for Melinda to get back from a mission. Unless she counts taking Skye shopping as a mission.’

Phil couldn’t deny the possibility that she just might be.

The sound of a car door took him out of his thoughts. He squeezed out from between the two and went to the door to wait for Melinda. She was carrying Skye, who was out cold and snoring softly in Melinda’s arms. He smiled at her, glad to see Skye so relaxed with her.

“I can bring her upstairs if you want—“

“I’ve got her. Get the bags?” Phil laughed as she moved sideways to get past him through the doorway, going out to the car. Grabbing all of the bags, he struggled to move quietly back to the house and up to Skye’s room, the bags tussling and raising a good bit of noise. Melinda had Skye on the bed, sitting next to her as the girl yawned and looked up at her.

“Are we home already?” Melinda and Phil smiled hearing her call their house home. She was already settling in—or perhaps she hadn’t noticed what she’d said.

“Yes, we are.”

“I fell asleep.”

“Yes, you did. It’s almost bedtime anyways.”

“Okay.” Skye rolled over, hugging a pillow to herself. Melinda pulled up the blankets to her shoulders, brushing her hair back.

“So, it went well I take it.”

“I want to talk to you once Leo and Jemma are in bed.” Melinda stood, touching Phil’s shoulder softly as she walked out of Skye’s, and downstairs. He could hear her in the kitchen by the time he’d made it to the door. She was shuffling around, heating water for tea. He looked back at Skye, wondering what went wrong. As he descended the stairs, Jemma and Leo walked around him murmuring sleepy good nights as they went to bed, Leo stopping for a hug.

“So, what went wrong?”

“There was a car following us until we stopped for food.”

“What?” His posture changed immediately, from dad to agent in a second.

“They stayed at least three car lengths behind us the entire time. That can’t be an accident.”

“Melinda, I’m sure it was nothing.”

“Phil, why do they keep moving Skye?”

“To keep her safe. After what happened in that village, it seemed like the safest thing for her. But now that the dust has settled so can she. Here, with us.”

“But why did they move her for so long. Seven years… What if someone’s still looking for her, trying to get her?”

“May, where did you go for shopping and food?”

“Target and Burger King.”

“Two very common places to buy things,” Phil took the cup of tea she’d been sipping from out of her hands and set it on the counter, gently placing a hand on her shoulder, “I’m sure you’re just on edge because Skye is a bit of an unknown for us right now. You’re seeing and hearing things, and placing more significance in them than you need to. Relax, everything is fine. I bet that car was just getting food after shopping, just like you. The driver most likely didn’t even realize you were even in front of them.”

“I don’t know Phil. They sped off immediately after I noticed them, without buying anything.”

“Drive-thru?” He smiled at her reassuringly. She sighed, forcing herself to relax.

“You’re probably right. Still, I’m going to be on the lookout.”

“Okay, if it’s upsetting you, I’ll keep my eyes peeled too. And we’ll keep a closer eye on the kids, just to be extra certain that nothing bad happens.” She gave him a half smile, kissing his cheek in way of thanks. She reclaimed her tea, and downed it quickly heading off to take a shower. Phil began rinsing her cup to put it in the drying rack. Drying his hands with the towel, he sighed, staring into the backyard.

“I’m sure it was nothing. It has to be nothing.”

\----

When Melinda had turned her back, the woman had spent several more moments staring at them trying to gauge what kind of person Melinda was. She had spent months finding the girl, and vying for legal custody of her, but she was denied and only told that a family had already been lined up. She turned on her heel and walked away, gait clipped and annoyance emanating from her every pore. She could barely manage to put on her pleasant look for the cashier.

As she walked out of the store, she suddenly realized that this was no reason to be angry. Here Skye was out in plain sight, in her town already. This was probably the best chance they had of getting Skye that they had ever had. Out in her car, she grabbed the car phone.

“Yes Raina?”

“I found her!” Raina sounded breathless, excited to pass on the good news, “I mean, I saw her and the woman who adopted her in the store today! They live in town. I just have to follow her home, and we can have the girl as soon as it’s convenient!”

“Are you certain it was her?”

“Yes, Cal, I’m sure! Our search is over.”

“Good. Call me later when you know where they live.” He hung up on her, and she settled in to watch the store front. It wouldn’t due to lose them after telling Cal she had this covered.

A while later Melinda and Skye came walking out, Melinda carrying all of the bags and Skye stumbling tiredly after her. Raina smiled as she observed Skye, noting what she could about her—how she dressed, walked, the way her hair looked. She’d never seen Skye this close, only baby photos Cal had shown her.

“Why, she can’t be any older than Grant.” She tapped her finger nails, purple nail polish perfect, on the horn. Raina followed Melinda, always staying further back to avoid being spotted, all the way to the Burger King. She parked for a while, but after a while she’d felt impatient and driven around as if going through the drive-thru. And that’s when Raina noticed that Melinda had seen her. Panic jumped at her throat, and she drove away quickly. At the end of the street Raina pulled over, slamming her hand on the steering wheel.  
“Why did I do that? She probably didn’t even recognize the car! Speeding away was more suspicious than driving past. Goddamn it!” Stopping herself, she took a minute to calm herself and try to salvage the plan. She couldn’t let Skye slip away, she still had to trail them back to their home but Melinda would be on the lookout for her car now.

Looking at her reflection, Raina smiled to herself. Freshening up her makeup, fluffing her hair, and unbuttoning her dress a little ways, she turned on her blinkers and got out of the car. Going to the front of the vehicle, she opened the hood and removed a small, indiscrete part. After throwing that into her purse, she made a show of looking confused and scared. Soon enough, some older man taking his mid-life crisis out for a drive stopped behind her.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Oh, hello! Do you think you could help me? My car started acting strange, and I don’t know what to do! I’m terribly late for my niece’s birthday party.”

“Well, what seems to be the problem?”

“I really don’t know! The check engine light came on, and it started making a strange sound. When I stopped, the engine died and I can’t seem to start it again.” She let her eyes water, “It just came back from the shop, and they said they fixed everything!” Reaching up to wipe her eyes, she made sure his eyes would drop down to her chest.

“I called my friend, but he can’t come get me for almost an hour! It’ll be dark by then, and I’m really scared.” He reached up to put a comforting hand on her back.

“Hey, hey, don’t worry, I can drive you to that party myself.”

“Oh, no! I couldn’t take so much of your time. Stopping to check on me was already so kind of you and —“

“Nonsense, it’s no trouble to me. Besides, there’s a little girl waiting for her favourite aunt to show up at her party. And you never known what kind of freaks are out there, I’d hate for something to happen to a pretty little thing like you.”

“Stop you, I’m not that pretty!” She giggled a little, batting her eyelashes at him, “You’d be my hero if you could drive me. But, I’m afraid I don’t have a map. I’m sure I’d know it if I saw it, though.”

“Then we’d better get driving, shouldn’t we.” Raina got in the car with him, and directed him towards the nearest residential neighbourhood. Her guess worked, and she re-spotted the vehicle as it entered a particular area.

“I’m recognizing this area. It’s down this way!” She grabbed his arm is faux excitement, the one resting on his leg, fingernail barely grazing his thigh. His eyes flickered down for half a second, and he didn’t even notice that she was just having him follow the vehicle in front of them. He slowed to let the car in front of them, the car Skye was in, pull into a medium sized unassuming house. Raina stared at the house, memorizing the number and street name.

“Is this the house?”

“No, but it looked similar. I thought it was until this car pulled in, I don’t know those people.” She ‘hmm’ed worriedly, “Maybe it’s a few streets down?”

“It’s getting kind of late. Are you sure that you’re niece’s party would still be going on?”

“You’re probably right, I must’ve missed it completely.” He stopped at the stop sign at the end of the road, “I’m a horrible aunt! My brother will be so mad!” She covered her face and let out a few crocodile tears.

“Don’t worry, he’ll understand. Believe me you, I have sisters myself and I’d’ve let them get away with murder when we were younger. He won’t mind one party none. Let me drive you home, ‘kay?”

“Would you mind terribly, when I’ve already wasted so much of your time?” He waved it off again, smiling at her cleavage, insisting it was the right thing to do. She thanked him profusely and gave him her address. He pulled over in front of her house, and she kissed his cheek before dashing out and into the building. As soon as the door was closed, she called out into the living room.

“John? Are you home? I’m afraid I’ve had some car trouble on the way home. Some old man gave me a lift back, but he got lost. Kept looking at me and not the road…” Garrett walked out and looked at her appraisingly.

“Looking like that? Who can blame him, Flowers!” She walked up to him, leaning onto her tiptoes to kiss him hello, “But was this really car trouble, or—” Raina slipped the missing piece into his shirt pocket telling him quickly where the car was, and he sighed in aggravation.

“You’re back.” She and John both looked over to the stairwell where Grant stood, holding his stuffed hydra by the tail. His hair was a mess and he was rubbing his eyes with his free hand, clearly he’d just woken up.

“I told you to go to bed, Grant.” Garrett sighed, shaking his head, “Can’t you follow orders? Doing shit like this is how you lose privileges.” His tone was threatening, and Raina smacked his chest lightly. Playing the good guy with Grant could get annoying, but Raina had figured when she first moved in that having Grant trust her or at least consider her safer than John would be useful. Now, it would pay off.

“He’s just a kid John, I probably woke him up with my shouting just now.” She stepped back from John, turning to Grant, “Come on, I’ll bring you back to bed.” She walked with Grant back downstairs and watched as he got back in bed, placing the hydra into his arms when he was situated.

“Grant, do you want to go to the park tomorrow?”

“Can we?” Even half asleep, Grant’s face lit up at the idea.

“Sure, we just can’t tell John.” Raina gently ran her fingers through his hair, she almost felt bad using the boy. Almost.

“Don’t tell Dad? Why not?” He was suspicious now, Raina noted. Apparently some of Garrett’s training had sunk in.

“I don’t think your dad would like me running you around without his say so.” She whispered conspiratorially, “It’ll be like a secret mission.” Grant smiled, suspicion gone, and nodded. Raina turned off the lights and walked back upstairs. John was gone, probably to find the car. Satisfied that she was alone, Raina called Cal, eager to tell him the good news.

“Did you get it Raina?” Cal demanded.

“I did.”

“Tell me! Tell me where my little girl is!”

“084 Tahiti Lane.” Raina paced slowly during the phone call, turning with an over exaggerated hip sway, “But, Cal, there’s something about her new foster mom. She makes me think of a cop, or maybe an agent.” Raina remembered how the woman had stood in the restaurant, like she was getting ready for a fight. “We know that S.H.I.E.L.D. took your daughter, right? Maybe they placed her with agents of theirs, trying to lower the risk or something.”

“If they did, that’s not really something I’m terribly worried about. At worst, it’s an excuse to rip more of those damned people apart. At best, it’s a surefire way of showing Daisy what horrible people they are.” He made a ‘tsk’ing sound, murmuring more to himself than to Raina, “Oh no, they definitely can’t provide what Daisy needs, she’s so special. Only me and her mother can do that. They won’t mean to mistreat her, _they’d better not hurt her on purpose_ , but they just aren’t right. No one but _us_ is right!” He was getting angrier by the word, until he suddenly calmed, “It’s okay, Cal, it’ll be fine. Soon Daisy’ll be back, safe and sound. My sweet baby girl is coming home. Tomorrow!”

“Cal, wait! We want this to go as smoothly as possible, right? I’m bringing Grant, John’s kid, to the park tomorrow. I’ll go to the one in that neighbourhood. I’ll meet her foster-parents, get their names, and get a feel for them. I can play it off as coincidence, gather information, and make bringing your Daisy home go smoother.”

Cal let out an annoyed, long suffering groan.

“Raina, Raina, Raina, why do you want this to take so long! Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting already? Seven, nearly eight years. I can barely wait another night, much less another day!” He sighed again, and she heard him drop against something like a couch or a chair, “But, if you’re right, you’re right. It would be nice to know if I’ll need to be… prepared.” He paused for a stretch of time, still thinking, “Fine! Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, Raina, little rain cloud, watch the _imposter_ family. Call me when you know if they’re S.H.I.E.L.D. or not, tell me how ready I should be. Just, do me a favour?”

“What do you need?”

“Don’t take too long?”

“I’ll work as fast as I can.” Cal made a noncommittal sound of approval and hung up, leaving Raina in silence.

Raina sighed happily, sauntering into the bathroom to shower, talking to herself.

“This is good, great actually! Soon we’ll have the brat, and Cal will finally—finally!—bring me to those people he’s told me about. And then,” She looked at her exposed back in the mirror, imagining wings stretching out from her shoulder blades, “I’ll be an angel, just like Grandma promised I’d be.”

While she showered, John came back in loudly, stomping up the stairs. He knocked loudly before throwing open the door, and turning on the sink.

“Really wish you hadn’t done that, Flowers. Its dark, it’s humid, that engine is fucking filthy, and putting that damned piece back without a flashlight was a real bitch of a task. Why’d you need to fake a break-down anyways?”

“Work,” She turned off the water, and reached out to grab her robe, wrapping it around herself before exiting.

“What kind of work was this?” He growled lowly, scrubbing at his arms and hands, “Damned car grease won’t come off, goddamnit!” Raina walked behind him, giving him a sideways glance through the mirror.

“There’s stuff for that down in the garage if it worries you that badly, John.”

“Don’t want to wake up Grant again. Fucking kid can’t sleep through anything. Someone next door sneezes and suddenly he can’t fucking sleep.” Raina laughed.

“I thought you said that that was one of the qualities that would make him a good agent?”

“Yeah, when he’s an adult. You might not’ve noticed this, but he’s kind of a useless kid right now.”

“Long term planning,” She leaned on his shoulder, smiling seductively, “You’re really good at that kind of thing. A very attractive quality, if I may say so myself.” John gave her an annoyed look. She pushed off of him, moving down the hall to the master bedroom. Looking back at the staircase that led to Grant’s room, Raina whispered to herself.

“Besides, he’s not as useless as John makes him out to be. With him, I can get to Skye.” Closing the door to the master bedroom, she got ready for bed.

  
In the morning, John was still sleeping when Raina woke. She disentangled herself from his arms to creep out of the bed quietly, grabbing clothes to change into in the bathroom. She snuck down the stairs to wake Grant, sitting on his bed and shaking his shoulder.

“Grant, it’s time to wake up. You need to get ready.” Grant opened his eyes, staring up at her in confusion.

“It’s not a school day, it’s Sunday.”

“For the park. Besides, you know John doesn’t like it when you sleep in. It’s already 8.”

“Dad doesn’t even get up until 9, how would he know?”

“Well, I have to run errands before we go to the park, so we’d need to leave soon.” She started pulling an outfit out of his dresser for him, “Besides, it wouldn’t be a secret mission if we didn’t have a cover story. If he asks where we went today, you’ll tell him?”

“We were running errands.” Grant replied obediently, yawning as he sat up.

“Good!” She said cheerfully, throwing him his clothes. Grant caught them, and stretched his legs before setting his feet on the floor, “Oh, be ready in ten minutes and we can go to that diner you like.”

“Yeah!?” Now Grant was excited, wide awake in mere seconds.

“Mmhmm,” Raina gave an affirmative sound before ascending the stairs, making sure John was still asleep. When she opened the door to peer in he had rolled onto his back, Deathlok gear reflecting some of the light coming in.

In the car, Grant had himself buckled in before Raina had even opened her door, beaming up at her in unbridled happiness. One good thing about Grant was that he was a quick learner, and John had taught him early on not to ask questions, so he didn’t bother Raina while they ran their first few errands. Paying some bills, making some discreet drop offs of weapons for some of John’s men, but when Grant started recognizing the way to the diner, he leaned forwards.

“Is it time to get food?” She nodded to him through the rearview mirror. He’d already started taking off his seatbelt when she was pulling into the parking lot.

“You know, Grant, if your dad saw you doing that, he’d get very angry. You need to be patient, wait until the car is actually stopped.” At the mention of John’s anger Ward calmed immediately, face gaining a solemn expression she knew few boys his age could muster. He nodded, and mumbled an apology, “Oh, I’m not angry, I just want to make sure you don’t make him angry.” He nodded again, following her out of the car and into the building slowly. It was the careful measured way he moved when John was upset with him.  
Grant kept this up until they had been seated, only smiling politely at the waitress when she took their orders. A boy who was afraid of her wasn’t very useful to Raina’s needs so she started acting playful towards him, tugging his napkin just out of his reach at the table, making him laugh.

“After this, I need to make two more stops before we can go to the park. Half hour, max. Alright?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He answered her with a little salute, grinning again.

After the diner, Raina had to pay one more bill in a store, and then mail out some correspondence for the Centipede program under an alias. Leaving the post office and climbing back into the car, she looked down at the clock, and turned to smile at Grant.

“Twelve thirty! Time to go to the park.” Grant smiled back at her, glad to finally be able to stretch his legs and play. He slowly became confused, though, as Raina drove.  
“Raina, I don’t mean to bother you, but this isn’t the way to the park that I remember.”

“Oh no, Grant, I forgot to tell you. I found a different park and thought since today is already a secret mission type of day, we could add scoping out a new location to the list of things we do.”

“Oh, that sounds cool!” He was practically pressing himself against the window to look at the playground as Raina pulled in, and she could hear him whispering to himself about what he saw; street name, environment, houses nearby, all of it was being cataloged by Grant straight away. She parked the car and pulled off her seatbelt before realizing that Grant hadn’t moved yet, just stared at her expectantly.

“You don’t need permission to get out of the car once it’s done moving.” Grant nodded, unbuckling himself and jumping out of the car. He looked around at the place, and turned back to Raina.

“It’s really empty here.”

“I’m sure other kids will show up sooner or later. But for now, why don’t you go play by yourself—enjoy the park while it’s empty.”

“I’ll go scope it out!” With that he dashed off into the colourful structures, trying to sneak around even though Raina could still clearly still see him peeking around corners and pointing his hands out in front of his chest like a gun. He continued this for a while, occasionally coming back to tell Raina where enemies could hide, good places to scope from, and good places to hide. Raina offered him small praise, telling him he was a very diligent soldier and that John would be impressed. Grant became energized all over again hearing that, and raced off to fight an imaginary battle that seemed to involve launching himself off the swings as high as he possibly could.

Just as Raina had predicted, other kids started showing up with their parents, and Raina scanned all of those who arrived anxiously. If her hunch was wrong and Skye’s new foster family didn’t come to this park, today will have been a waste. It wasn’t until one forty-five that she spotted the women she had seen in the store appeared, but she was with two children who definitely were not Skye. Raina was about to curse her luck when a man jogged up the woman with Skye held aloft on his shoulders, beaming and laughing.

“Come on, Skye! Come play!” The two other kids had raced into the woodchips, standing by a jungle gym waiting for her, and Skye pointed at them excitedly asking the man to set her down. He swung her in a circle before actually putting her feet on the ground and she dashed off, getting stopped by the woman to be told to be careful. Skye didn’t appear as comfortable with the woman as she had looked yesterday in the store. Skye squirmed when she put her hand on Skye’s hair, mussing it gently before sending her off.

Raina watched them play, running around each other and shouting nonsensical things to one another. The boy seemed to be named Leo, and the girl was Jemma. They carried on this way for almost twenty minutes. She was so focused on watching them and trying to figure out a way to approach the two parents that she didn’t notice Grant running towards her. Grant also didn’t notice Skye running backwards away from Jemma and Leo, crossing into his pathway.

The two kids collided, sending both of them crashing into the ground and against each other. Raina heard both of them cry out in pain, and saw the parents take off sprinting to check on Skye. Raina saw her opportunity, and stood, rushing over to ‘check’ on Ward. As she approached she heard Grant apologizing to Skye as fast as he could, ignoring the blood running down his own cheek and from his mouth. He was fine, she had seen him get worse ‘training’ with John.

“Skye!” The man stopped next to the boy, getting onto his knees. Raina reached them at the same time as the mom and Leo and Jemma. “Are you okay, you’re bleeding, what happened?”

“I ran into him, it’s my fault.” Skye’s sentence was punctuated by sobs and hiccups. Raina knelt by Grant, taking his face in her hands.

“Are you hurt? You cut your face!” Grant reached into his mouth and pulled out a tooth.

“It came off.” He held it out to Raina, who stared at the tooth in veiled disgust.

“Oh, um,” She took napkins out of her purse, handing one to Grant to wrap the tooth in, and one was pressed to the bleeding scratch on his face, “I’m sure it’s okay, it was just a baby tooth right?” She looked over at the man and Skye as he picked woodchips out of her elbows. “Is your daughter alright?”

“I’ll be okay, ‘m sorry I hurt him.” Skye answered for him. Raina assured her the Grant was okay, Grant backing up the claim.

“It’s really my fault, I should’ve turned or stopped when I noticed you.” Grant was poking at the cut on his cheek, “This really hurts.” The woman who came to check on Skye crouched next to Raina and Grant, looking at the injury critically.

“It’s not deep, just in a bad place.”

“We have a first-aid kit of you need, with Band-Aids and the works.” The man offered. This was better than Raina had hoped, grinning at him.

“Would you mind terribly? His dad would not be happy with me if I brought him home all banged up like this.” Raina lost the grin when she turned back to Grant and he was still holding the tooth out to her, “Grant, what’s with the tooth?”

“I don’t know what to do with it.”

“Um, I, uh, tooth fairy?” She offered awkwardly, staring in discomfort at the tooth.

“What?” The man looked at Grant, surprised.

“The tooth fairy takes teeth you lose and puts a quarter in they’re place.”

“Someone’s going to put a quarter in my mouth?”

“No, under your pillow. You don’t know about the tooth fairy?”

“I didn’t…”

“John doesn’t really do fairytales and magic stories.” Raina explained.

“Dad says fairytales are for children,” Grant started to put the tooth into his pocket, when Raina stopped him.

“I know you’ll forget that in there. Here, put it in my bag, just make sure to remind me when we get home.” Raina looked from the woman to the man, “Could I get my hands on that kit?”

“Yeah, this way.” The man picked up Skye while the woman corralled Leo and Jemma, who’d been staring anxiously from a few feet away. Raina put her hand on Grant’s hair as they walked back to the couples SUV.

“You seem familiar,” Raina said as they approached the car, looking over to the woman.

“We saw you in the store.”

“This is my wife Melinda Coulson, and I’m Phil Coulson. The two kids by Melinda are Leo and Jemma. This here is Skye.” He bounced Skye in his arms, and she laughed a little, wiping the tears off of her cheeks. Raina reached over without thinking and picked a woodchip from her hair, noticing that Melinda had tensed when she saw her reaching for it. She was also giving Phil a look, an annoyed one.

Raina took antiseptic and a bandage from Phil, and bent in front of Grant to wash the blood away and apply them. She listened to Melinda whispering to Phil behind her.  
“Offering her a bandage is one thing Phil, but giving her our names was completely uncalled for.”

“Why? If our kids are taking each other down, we should at least know what to call each other.”

“Oh, by the way, I’m Raina, and this here is Grant Garrett.” She turned to face them, looking down at Grant like a proud parents and saw that he was still staring at Skye. She was sitting on the trunk ledge, letting Melinda apply bandages to her scrapes.

“Grant Garrett you said, right?” Phil looked like he was thinking, “And his dad was John Garrett?”

“Yes, why?”

“I think I might know your dad, than, kiddo.” Grant looked terrified for a second, eyes snapping from Skye to Coulson.

“You won’t tell him I hurt Skye, will you? I didn’t mean to!” Both Phil and Melinda stiffened, giving each other worried looks.

“No, I won’t tell your dad.” Phil spoke slowly, eyes darting up to Raina for a second. She was forcing herself to remain relaxed, trying not to let the twin looks of suspicion make her nervous.

“Even if he did, I’m sure John would understand this was an accident and no one is really at fault. Getting into an accident is very different from getting in trouble at school and being grounded because of it.” Raina added, turning her voice to a reassuring tone. Grant relaxed visibly, muttering to himself about Tripp being the one who dared him to ‘do it’, whatever the ‘it’ was this time around. Phil’s expression lost the suspicious edge, but Melinda’s remained like stone. Jemma, Leo, and Skye looked around their parents, and Raina noted that Skye was avoiding Melinda when she moved.

“Hey, so, if you’re okay, do you want to play with us?” Skye asked, giving Grant an intense look.

“Um,” He looked up at Raina, who shrugged at him.

“We finished all my errands for the day, if you feel up to staying, than it’s your call.” He smiled, a new gap in between two of his teeth.

“Were you guys playing anything?”

“Tag, but we can play something else if you want!” Jemma said, jumping forwards.

“I wasn’t doing anything really, I just wanted to find every good hiding spot I could.”

“How many did you find?” Leo asked, walking up to stand between Skye and Jemma.

“33!”

“You missed two then,” Leo said, smiling mischievously, “and I’m not going to tell you because now I’ll have two secret spots for when we play hide’n’seek.”

“Can we play hide’n’seek?” Skye asked excitedly, grabbing Leo’s arm.

“I’d play,” Ward immediately. The two others agreed, and they decided that Jemma would be ‘It’ first. The four kids ran off, Jemma to the safe spot and the other three to hide.

Ward hid near Skye, giving her a thumbs up from his spot under a bush. She gave him one back from under the thick pine needles she’d crawled through.

Phil laughed at the kids antics, looking over to Melinda.

“Who’s on bath duty tonight, because Skye is never going to get that sap out of her hair alone.”

“Me.” Melinda replied before looking over to Raina, “So, no last name for you?” Phil nudged her. Riana stayed quiet for a few minutes, trying to figure out how to gain their trust but convince them to drop the issue. While they waited for her answer they migrated over to the benches on the outside of the playground area.

“I prefer not to give it out. I don’t like to talk about it in front of Grant, but an ex is still looking for me. Nasty guy. Fewer people who know my name, fewer people who could accidentally tell him where I am.” Raina gave a small bitter laugh, “John has a tendency to take in abused people. First Grant, now me.” She looked off to the kids while she spoke, small smile on her lips. From the sound he made Raina knew Phil bought it, but Melinda she couldn’t read. What she couldn’t read, she didn’t like.

A silence lapsed around them, but eventually Phil started making small chat. He asked about John, when he’d adopted Grant, if they lived nearby, would John be okay with Grant coming over to play sometimes, normal small talk for parents at a park. While they talked, Raina kept a running list of things in her head about them.

Melinda was guarded to Phil’s relaxed openness. Melinda was a fighter of some sort, Phil probably wasn’t. If either of them was an agent, it would be Melinda. She kept reminding herself to ask John about Phil, to see if he could tell her if they were agents or not. From just one interaction, she had gathered a decent amount of data on them.

But not enough to report back into Cal. This didn’t soothe her nerves, but rather gave her more reason to be suspicious of Melinda.

“—so maybe you and John could bring Grant over for that.” Phil had been speaking to her. Raina cursed herself for getting so caught up in her thinking that she hadn’t listened.

  
“I’m sorry, I was looking for Grant. I didn’t hear you. Could you please repeat that?”

“That’s okay, I do that all the time with my kids. I said, Melinda and I are having a barbeque to introduce Skye to our neighbours next Friday, maybe you and John could come and bring Grant. It’d be nice to catch up with John in person.”

“I’ll certainly tell him you invited us. Where is it?”

“Our house, here give me your address and I’ll mail you an invite!”

“Sounds good.” She smiled, writing their address on a piece of paper and handing it to Phil. Before he could grab it Melinda took it, reading it over and sliding into her pocket.

“You always forget stuff like this,” She said in way of explanation, “Phil, I have to get back home soon.” She was looking at his watch over his shoulder. Phil looked at the watch, seeming surprised.

“Wow, it’s three already? I need to get started on dinner.”

“And I need to finish that report for work tomorrow.” They stood, calling out to their kids. Leo, Jemma, Skye, and Grant all came over as a group talking about what school they went to.

“Your classroom is just down the hall from mine!” Leo was saying happily.

“Really! Maybe if we end up in the same recess period I can get you to meet Tripp, he’s my best friend! You guys would like him.”

“Me and Skye are supposed to be in the same classes this year, so I can help her!” Jemma was smiling proudly.

“We should all try to play together whenever we can!” A choruses of yeah’s followed Grant suggestion right as they reached the adults.

“We have to head home, too. How’s your tooth feeling?”

“Pretty okay, ma’am.” Grant smiled again, exposing the gap again. He was pushing at the gums with his tongue, “It feels really weird, though.” Phil and Raina laughed at Grant, and separated into two separate groups at the parking lot. As they walked away, Raina looked back at them. Melinda was holding hands with Skye, who seemed relaxed and happy around her for the first time that day.

If they had any chance of getting Skye to choose them over the Coulson’s, Raina decided, it would be if they could catch her alone or with Melinda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell that Raina is my bae?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I've have writer's block... for two years. It sounds fake, but I'm being serious. I've been so stressed out about this fic that I even stopped watching the show for a while. I'm all caught up now, I hated that ending of season 4 what is everyone's father Phil Coulson doing in space bring him back right now.  
> This chapter could have been posted sooner but I was trying to make a 30k chapter. It wasn't working, I can't do my story justice like that. So, here we go. Hopefully, I won't be gone for two years this time...

Skye woke up Monday morning before the sun was even up. She didn’t have a clock in her room, so she didn’t know the time but she knew that it wasn’t time to get up. She also knew that she wasn’t going to fall back to sleep anytime soon. She had been worrying about school ever since Grant had brought it up. She hadn’t thought about it, not really, but the agents from the foster program had said that the Coulsons’ had been able to make it so she could start school this week.

Knowing she wouldn’t fall back to sleep, Skye got out of bed and started pacing around the room, bouncing on the balls of her feet, trying to contain the panic she was starting to feel.

“Why do I care?” Skye whispered to herself, glaring at her feet as she moved, “I shouldn’t! Not anymore! Leo and Jemma can want me to stay all they want, but they can’t _do_ anything! Their mom hates me, I can tell, she hates me and wants me gone, so I won’t be here long for this stupid school to matter! Who cares if I make friends or not because I’m just going to get sent away and they won’t be my friends anymore.” Skye’s stomach turned as she thought about it, and for a terrifying moment she thought she might puke.

“I won’t get sick. I won’t. If Mr. Coulson thinks I’m sick, he won’t let me go to school. Then their mom will have more reasons to hate me.” Skye hiccupped, rushing to the bed and grabbing a stuffed animal off of it. It was an eagle, with its wings coloured red, white, and blue. Skye hugged it to her, stuffing it against her face.

“I don’t want to get sick, I want to go to this stupid school! I want to like it, and stay here! I want to stay here!” She cried softly, muffling the sound with the toy, “I want her to like me.”  Eventually, she got tired of sitting on the floor, and climbed back onto the bed.

The idea that someone could have heard her crying occurred to her, and if they heard her crying they’d come to check on her. If it was Mr. Coulson, he wouldn’t like her anymore. He’d already seen her cry twice, in only two days. He probably already thought she was a cry baby, and no one likes those. If it was Mrs. Coulson, then she’d get angry at Skye for waking her up so early, and… And… Skye wasn’t so sure what the follow up to that would be, but she knew for certain it meant having to leave again.

Squirming down under the covers, Skye repositioned herself to make it look like she’d never gotten up at all so that no one would know. She caught herself wishing Leo and Jemma had offered to stay with her again, and that scared her anew. Skye loved them, they were the best and they were so nice. If Skye couldn’t change Mrs. Coulson’s mind, if she couldn’t make her like her, then she wouldn’t be able to be with Jemma and Leo anymore.

“I’ll make her like me.” Skye said as though she was making a promise.

Skye felt a little better after making that decision, and tried to think about Mrs. Coulson in earnest. It occurred to Skye that she hadn’t really been considering the woman herself, instead waiting for her to act as other foster moms had. There was something of a pattern to them all; they were nice enough at first, long enough for Skye to feel comfortable with them. Then a couple months in, usually a few weeks or days after Skye first called them ‘mom’ or started feeling like she could, they’d send her packing. It always felt to Skye that it came without warning, or maybe each time she successfully convinced herself it would be different and couldn’t see the signs. Only difference was that sometimes it was the dad who wanted her gone, or both of them. Sometimes Skye wondered why a family that clearly didn’t want her sending her back hurt so much.

The worst was last time, probably. Her foster mom had called her inside, saying she wanted to talk to her. Skye had been with them for almost four months, and she thought that everything had been going great. She thought that this family was _the one_ —the people who really wanted her! She ran into the kitchen, excitedly calling out “Yes, Mom?” It was the first time Skye had ever called her that. She stopped in the doorway, knowing suddenly and with total conviction that this wasn’t going to be good.

“I’m sorry Skye, but we’ve decided this isn’t the right home for you. You’ll have to go back to the agency until another family can be found for you.” Skye had cried, begging to know why, screaming out over and over again “What did I do wrong, I don’t understand? Why don’t you want me anymore?” Her foster mom kept her back to Skye, even as she approached her slowly, putting a hand out to touch her.

“Mom, please—“

“Don’t call me that!” The shouting voice made her flinch, thinking that this was like a nightmare. Like she was reliving that day. Part of her was convinced that if she could just get her foster mother to tell her what was wrong with her, Skye could fix herself and stay with this family, her family.

“I can fix this, please, Mom, don’t send me away, I can fix it I promise. I’ll be better, I’ll be good.” She could feel the floor shaking under her, like the entire world was shifting. Fear shot through her like an arrow to her heart, and she turned around as quickly as she could looking for the source.

“You can’t fix this problem,” the woman behind her was saying, “because you are the problem. Don’t you get it, we don’t want you. Nobody wants you, Skye. No one.”

“This isn’t fair!” Skye screamed, stamping her foot. The world shook so violently that it seemed to crack, or collapse, disappearing into an endless darkness. The woman’s voice was still echoing, the words “No one” getting more stretched out, amplifying until it sounded like a hundred people saying it to her.

“Especially not us.” Skye look up from where she’d been looking, and saw Melinda and Phil standing above her.

“It’s time for school, Skye, wake up.” Someone was shaking her shoulder softly. Skye opened her eyes, blinking slowly. The eagle was squashed beneath her, and she was on her stomach. Phil was still shaking her, telling her in a lighthearted voice that he wouldn’t stop until she got up. Skye groaned in response, sitting up on her knees.

“I fell back asleep.” She stated dumbly to herself.

“Were you awake earlier? Melinda thought she heard something… Was something keeping you up? Bad dreams?” He sat on the bed, holding his arms out towards Skye. Skye looked at the stuffed animal in her hands, then at Phil, and back to the eagle.

“I’m okay.”

“Nervous about your new school? Jemma will be in your class to help—“

“I’m not nervous.” Skye shook her head, avoiding his arms as she slipped off the bed, turning around to set the eagle down. She walked to her closet and surveyed the cloths, looking for a certain pink dress. Her and Mrs. Coulson had gotten along really well after they’d picked out the dress, so maybe it was a good luck charm.

“Do you need help getting ready?”

“No, thank you. I don’t need any help,” This was said as she tugged ineffectively at the dress, trying to loosen it from the hanger it was on.

“Oh, okay.” Phil stood, straightening the bedsheets as he tried to decide if he should tell Skye that there was a footstool in the closet, “Well, I have breakfast all made up downstairs whenever you’re ready—“ She turned around and saw him making the bed, alarm crossing her face.

“You don’t have to do that, I can get it.” Skye shooed him out of the room, “You have more important things to worry about, and I can take care of myself!” He walked out slowly, keeping his eyes on Skye.

“I don’t mind making your bed for you, Skye, I usually tidy up Leo and Jemma’s room after they get on the bus anyways.” Skye shook her head fiercely.

“No, really, I can get it. I don’t want to annoy,” She stopped herself from finishing her sentence, but Phil knew what she was about to say. He opened his mouth to tell her that she wasn’t annoying, to reassure her however he could, but Skye saw it coming. “I have to get dressed now, or else I’ll make everyone late. Can you please close the door?”

“Yeah sure, but Skye-“

“Please.” Phil sighed, closing the door. Skye looked unsure, suddenly thinking that might not have been the right thing to do.

Scowling, Skye turned back to the closet, staring in at the dress and trying to figure out how to get it down from its hanger. If she hadn’t asked Phil to leave her alone, she could have just asked him to get it down for her, but it was too late for that now. She absolutely could not ask him for help now, maybe not for a few days. Long enough that he understood that she didn’t need the assistance.

“But how do I get my—Oh!” Skye looked down and noticed the footstool tucked into the back of the closet, crouching to drag it out towards herself, “Now I can reach it on my own! This is great!” Skye beamed at her success as she slipped the dress off of the hanger, no pulling required. Hopping down, Skye threw the dress towards the bed before turning to take out the shoes Mrs. Coulson had bought for her. She left the footstool out, propping the closet open, figuring that she could put everything back away after school. For now, she just wanted to move fast to be sure that she didn’t hold anyone up.

Once dressed, Skye stood in front of the mirror she’d noticed on the inside of the closet door. She scanned her outfit critically, trying to convince herself that it was a good outfit and that everything would be fine. But she just kept thinking that the outfit marked her as an outsider. The rest of the kids in her class and school would have been going to this school for years, and for the first part of the year. If she didn’t want to stick out to the rest of them, she needed to dress normally, not in her prettiest dress.

As a back-up, if she decided that she didn’t want to wear the dress after all, she got out a simpler outfit and set it on the bed to stare at. Looking between her reflection and the pants and t-shirt on the bed, Skye listed off the pros and cons of each outfit.

The dress would make her look cute. Mrs. Coulson also liked it, so she would appreciate Skye wearing it to something important, and that in turn would make her like Skye. On the downside, it would make her stand out, and in a school it would probably make her look like she was trying too hard. And Mrs. Coulson wouldn’t be there to appreciate her wearing it, and that would take away from how much it could make Mrs. Coulson like her. She would probably like it better if Skye wore the dress to that party they were having on Friday to introduce her to the neighbourhood and some extended family.

The plain outfit would make her look like just another student. Being new, and transferring part-way through the year would make Skye stand out enough, she didn’t need her clothes to help her do that. It also made her feel better about going to the school in the first place. If she didn’t need to dress up for it, it meant going here for the first time was no big deal and that she could handle it. But if she did wear the plain outfit, she ran the risk of making her new foster-family think that she didn’t care at all about starting a new school, which might make them think that she didn’t care about starting her life as a part of their family, and then everyone would think she was ungrateful. Parents don’t like ungrateful kids, especially if they know that they can just get rid of them.

Skye frowned at both outfits, pulling the dress off in an angry huff. Scanning the closet again, Skye noticed a pink short-sleeve shirt with a little brown button-up vest to go over it. Dashing to the closet, Skye jumped onto the footstool and grabbed the shirt.

“Perfect,” Skye slipped in the shirt over her head and pulled on the vest. She was tightening her belt on her pants when Phil knocked on her door.

“Skye, are you coming down?” Skye looked up at him, surprised.

“I didn’t realize anyone was waiting for me.”

“We try to eat breakfast together every morning, it helps start off the day right. Oh, I see you found the footstool!” Phil smiled brightly, “I was worried you wouldn’t notice it.”

“I did.” She nodded, pulling shoes on and refusing to look at him now. Phil’s smile dropped, and he went to sit next to Skye.

“Are you feeling alright Skye? If you want, Melinda and I can call the school and tell them that you aren’t ready yet. They’d understand. Another week to settle in, ya’ know? Melinda tried to tell me that I was rushing things getting you into school after only one weekend here.” He wanted to tell her that they wouldn’t think any less of her for it, but he knew that’d be pushing too far.

“No, I’m ready. I’m fine, I was just trying to make my outfit perfect.”

“Oh? I thought you wanted to wear the dress?”

“I’m going to wear it to the party. Mrs. Coulson really likes it,” Skye fidgeted with her vest, “so I think she’d appreciate me wearing it to something important.”

“First day of school’s important, too.”

“I’ve had a lot of first days at school.” Skye stood, examining herself in the mirror again, “Okay, this is okay. I’m ready to go downstairs.” Phil nodded, standing up and walking down to the dining room with Skye. An empty seat sat across from Jemma, who was tilting her glass of juice around always straightening it before anything could spill out. Leo was next to the empty seat, and Melinda sat at the far end of the table reading. Skye assumed that the seat on the end closer to her was Phil’s.

“Don’t do that Jemma.” Melinda didn’t look up from her papers as she scanned the lines for details as she scolded Jemma, who wordlessly switched the swirling the juice in the glass without tipping it.

“Melinda, please don’t work at the table.” Phil berated her while he pulled out the chair for Skye, “Hope you like eggs and bacon, Skye.” Skye gave him a nonverbal thanks, and looked at Melinda before noticing the watermark on the paper she was reading.

“That eagle looks like the stuffed one in my room!” Phil shot Melinda a dirty look only Skye and Melinda seemed to notice, “Do you like eagles?” The question was directed at Melinda, who immediately put the papers away into her briefcase that had been sitting at her feet. They all sat quietly as Skye waited for Melinda to answer her, staring at her the way the Melinda had looked at Skye when she was waiting for an answer during their shopping trip.

“I don’t particularly care for the animals themselves, but I’m certainly not against them.” Melinda replied carefully, almost smiling over the fact that Skye was imitating her.

“There are eagles all over the house,” Jemma told her.

“Especially on the stuff Mom brings home, and the mail that Dad gets.” Leo added. Phil and Melinda shared a look that promised a conversation after the kids’ bedtime.

“Well, do you have a favourite animal?” Skye ventured.

“Do you?” Melinda deflected the question towards Skye, which Skye took to mean that she didn’t have one.

“I like phoenixes.” Melinda quirked her head.

“Why phoenixes?”

“They just seem cool,” Skye shrugged. She’d never really questioned why she’d liked them so much, but she did.

“Phoenixes aren’t real, though. You’re favourite animal can’t be imaginary.” Jemma stated, sounding like it was something drawn from an old argument.

“My favourite animal is Nessie.” Leo said quietly to Skye, “Jemma always tries to tell me that doesn’t count because she’s ‘not real’ even though she definitely is.”

“There’s no way the Loch Ness Monster exists!”

“She’s real, Jemma!”

“No!” Jemma scowled, “Dad, Mom, might I be excused? I have to get my book about why the Loch Ness can’t possibly contain anything as large as this supposed ‘Nessie’ from my room.”

“Jemma, let it go,” Phil put his hand on Jemma’s shoulder, leaning over from his seat, “So, Melinda, your trip. That shouldn’t take more than a day, right?”

“Yes. I should be back tonight.”

“Will we be able to say goodnight?” Leo asked excitedly.

“Sorry kids, but that’s unlikely. There’s a lot of paperwork to sort through,” Melinda looked down at her briefcase, “And that’s more work than you might think.” Skye noticed that she and Phil shared another look, Phil’s eyes looking sad and annoyed and Melinda’s looked like stone despite the soft look she kept on her face. Curiosity started bubbling up in Skye’s stomach. She wanted to know. What she wanted to know she had no clue, but that didn’t stop the wanting. They were hiding _something_ , and that made Skye nervous.

“Oh! The bus will be here in ten minutes, we need to brush our teeth still,” Leo stood and pulled Skye away with him, leading her to the bathroom upstairs as Jemma followed. Once they were in the upstairs hall, Leo started talking again.

“This is the second trip she’s gone on since her last long trip, Jemma,” He paused outside the bathroom door, letting Skye and Jemma through before him, “You don’t think that Mom would let her boss send her on a long trip right after we got Skye, do you?”

“Mom’s always working, Leo, even when she’s taking the day off.” Jemma said, annoyed, “It’ll be fine. I’m sure it’ll be a while.”

“What are you guys talking about?”

“Mom goes away sometimes,” Jemma told Skye, pulling out the toothpaste. Skye read the label when they passed it to her, noting it was cinnamon flavour. She hated cinnamon flavoured toothpaste.

“On these annoyingly long trips, and Dad won’t tell us where she went or how long she’ll be gone.”

“It’s stupid, and we don’t want her to go. Not while you’re here.”

“Not while you’re new here, at least.”

“Why not?” Skye asked around the toothpaste in her mouth. The speed that the two spoke around each other left her confused, even after three days of being around them non-stop.

“That’s not fair to you,” Leo and Jemma both said, finally stopping their talking to brush their teeth. Skye was rinsing out her mouth, surprised at the words.

Not fair to her. Skye had always responded to unpleasant surprises with ‘It’s not fair!’ It was nice to hear it from somebody else, made her feel better knowing that Leo and Jemma were on her side.

“Things aren’t always fair,” Something the adults were always telling her, “You just learn to deal with that.” Skye resented the words, and typically the people who said them to her. Skye finished rinsing her mouth, turning her face down and missing the look Leo and Jemma sent teach other through the mirror.

“You sound like Aunt Maria, Skye—are you don’t brushing already?” Leo asked as Skye stepped away from the sink.

“Yes?”

“No, no you are not, that wasn’t—“ Jemma objected, toothbrush dangling from her mouth. She stopped herself and sighed, turning to Leo, “Next thing you know she’ll be telling us she doesn’t floss regularly.”

“I **do** floss regularly, before every dentist’s appointment!” Skye insisted.

“Your mouth is gross, Skye.” Leo told her, staring pointedly. Skye felt her face flush, fists curling angrily. Spinning on her heel, she sped walked from the room and to her bedroom to retrieve her backpack. With its strap in her hand, she walked past Leo and Jemma at her brisk pace, smacking one of them as she swung her backpack onto her shoulder.

Skye ducked into the dining room to ask Phil where the bus stop was, and saw only Melinda at the table, staring at the eagle watermarked papers again. Skye was about to back out of the room when Melinda looked up.

“Looking for Phil?”

“Yes. I just wanted to ask him where the bus stops.” She gestured to the general direction of the front door, “It changes from house to house.”

“Why don’t Leo and Jemma show you?” Melinda tilted the papers down to more directly look at Skye.

“I… guess.” Melinda’s eyes flitted down to her clenched fists, and her tensed body. She was the very image of barely contained child-rage.

“Did something happen between you guys.”

“No.”

“It’s all they’re rules isn’t it?” Skye looked at her, surprised. She was about to open her mouth to deny it when Melinda continued, “It drove Phil up a wall when they first came to be with us. They had rules about levels of water in the glass, the amount of toothpaste they could use, how much time down to the minute that they could spend on naps, even how much time they would spend _playing_. Some that you would not even believe.”

“Really? How’d you get them to stop?”

“We didn’t get them to stop, we eased them into our style of rules. Compromised with them on little things, giving a little less each time. They were younger then, less attentive to details so it wasn’t too difficult. Couple a months of effort.”

“A couple of months? That’s a long time…” Skye looked nervous, “How many rules do they still have? Leo called me gross because they say I don’t take good enough care of my teeth. That I don’t brush long enough. But how long are you even supposed to do that? I’ve never even heard a rule about that before, and what do they mean by ‘regular flossing’? Is there some ‘advanced flossing’ I don’t know about yet?!” Her voice had adopted a tone of sarcasm, getting more heated as she vented her annoyance to Melinda. Then to her surprise, she was interrupted by something she didn’t think she’d ever hear. Melinda was laughing.

Not on outrageous laugh, but a small controlled one full of mirth. Skye’s heart rate rocketed, and she fought to keep a smile off of her face. She didn’t want to seem weird to Melinda, not after this breakthrough. She made Melinda laugh, _she made their mom laugh_! People didn’t laugh unless they at least kind of liked you. Skye had a chance.

“I have a chance.” Skye whispered to herself, staring at Melinda in awe. Melinda’s laughter winded down, taking another swig of tea from her mug, and shuffling her papers around and into her briefcase. With a look at her wrist watch, she stood smoothly and approached Skye.

“Well Skye,” She started, crouching to her eye level, “I can understand your frustration, but at least about this Leo and Jemma are right. It’s not your fault, it’s all the adults who never told you. I have to get to work, but if you want when I come home, I can teach you how to properly brush your teeth.” Skye puffed her cheeks out.

“Why are there rules about teeth?”

“Because there’s science about teeth.” Skye made an aggravated sound, “Do you want me to teach you?”

“Yes, please.” Melinda nodded, touching her lips to Skye’s forehead before standing and walking around her. Skye heard her calling to Leo and Jemma to come downstairs and say goodbye. Skye felt her remaining anger well up in her at the sound of their feet on the ground and their calls for their mom to wait.

She hated that she had thought so highly of them before when all it took was breaking one unspoken rule for them to turn mean. But if Melinda was telling her the truth, then she really was wrong. So she shouldn’t have gotten angry, and she shouldn’t have hit one of them with her backpack. If they asked her why she did it, what would she say? What would they do if they knew that Skye didn’t know about the teeth rules?

She decided that she wouldn’t tell them that she didn’t know. She would apologize and say she didn’t sleep well. But then they might think she was being cranky, like a baby would be.

Skye continued to agonize about it until she heard footsteps behind her.

“We’re ready to go to the bus stop, Skye, if you want to come with us. We’re sorry we upset you.” Skye didn’t turn to face Jemma as she spoke to her, still trying to decide what to say.

“It’s fine,” She felt herself talking, again relying on quoting adults who’d she’d previously hated, “We’re just all getting used to each other. It’ll take time, and sometimes we’ll argue or fight. But as long as we can just apologize and learn from each other, we’ll move past it.” Skye turned to Jemma, making eye contact, “I’m sorry I got angry, I guess I’m nervous about school. That’s not you or Leo’s fault.”

“We should have been nicer about it, though.” Jemma took Skye’s hand, “Don’t be nervous about school, it’s fun. We learn new stuff, like math and history. Then we come home and Mom and Dad tell us the real history. We’re learning about Christopher Columbus right now. Mrs. Johnson says that he was a hero, and he discovered America but that’s not true; Dad told us it was Amerigo Vespucci who discovered the continent for Europe, and Columbus caused a plague.” They were walking out the front door now, Leo saying nothing on Jemma’s far side, “Which he says is like a big sickness that a lot of people get. Like, a lot.”

“Like, a hundred?”

“More.” Jemma said, seriousness etched into her entire seven year old body.

“More than a hundred… a thousand?” Jemma blinked suddenly.

“Ya’ know, I don’t think he told me how many people makes a sickness a plague. We can ask after school!”

“If Columbus didn’t do those things, why do they tell us he did?” Skye asked.

Leo spoke up shyly, worried about re-upsetting Skye, “Because they’ve been teaching kids that for so long that they’re embarrassed to change it—or that’s what Mom tells me.” Skye wrinkled her nose.

“Well Columbus and whoever keeps teaching him sound like real poops.” Leo laughed at that, and Jemma stuck out her tongue.

“Ew, I just imagined dog turds in suits.” Jemma laughed at her idea. Skye and Leo pictured it, looks of disgusted delight breaking out on their faces.

“Ew!”

“Yuck!” They spoke at the same time, catching each other’s eyes and laughing. It seemed like earlier had been forgiven. The bus arrived, and Skye stared in apprehension at the yellow behemoth opening its door to her. She hadn’t really noticed it, but they had walked to a driveway three or four houses down from the Coulson’s home. Too far to turn back, to many witnesses for her to chicken out now. At least twenty children stared out of the bus, talking and laughing and being loud. Jemma squeezed Skye’s hand, nudging her towards the bus.

Somehow, Skye wound up in the alley seat. Several kids around her began asked her who she was, informing her that they had never seen her get on the bus before. A simple ‘I’m new’ lead to them asking her who her parents were. Skye in turn questioned them about their lives, claiming she was too excited to talk about herself. By the time the bus reached the school, several kids were proclaiming themselves to be her friends. Three different ones offered to walk to her to classroom and did she know the number or did she have to go to the office first and they can walk her there, too!

Jemma reached for Skye possessively, pulling her along behind her.

“I’m her new sister, so I get to bring her to class!” Slowly the other kids dropped off to get to their own classrooms, no one from the bus but Jemma seemed to share a class with her. Skye wondered how big the school was. Right now, it seemed like a mountain. Or a deep pit. Full of strangers.

“Where’d Leo go?”

“Went to class, speaking of which! Here we are,” Jemma said, turning for a doorway. Skye almost pulled her hand away in a moment of panic. She didn’t know what she would have done if Jemma hadn’t held her hand through the door, and that thought became a frightful reality when Jemma dropped her hand. She dashed up to an older girl who had been talking to their teacher, Mrs. Johnson.

“Bobbi, Bobbi, Bobbi!” Jemma grabbed her hand in excitement, bouncing it with her as she jumped beaming at the 12 year old.

“Oh hey, Jemma,” Bobbi smiled at Jemma, matching her smile in enthusiasm, “how’re you?”

“Great, I have a new sister! This is Skye, isn’t she great?!” Jemma flailed her arm out to gesture to Skye, and wound up smacking her directly in the face. Skye squawked and fell backwards, but Bobbi managed to grab her arm before she hit the ground, helping her regain her footing.

“Oof! That sounded not fun. You okay? It was Skye, right?” Bobbi settled her arms on her shoulders to ensure that she was balanced.

“Uh yeah, I’m Skye. That hurt, Jemma.” Skye looked up at the adult present, smiling good naturedly at their antics, “Are you Mrs. Johnson?”

“I am indeed. And you’re my new student, Skye May-Coulson. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Skye.” She knelt slightly and extended her hand down for Skye to shake, and as she reached for the larger hand before her Skye decided that she liked this woman. “I’ll have to introduce you to the class, but I got a desk set up for you ahead of time. Today during recess I need to you take a little test for me so I can find out exactly how far behind us you are. I don’t expect it to be too much work, or very tricky, but it’s necessary to help you merge into the curriculum more easily.” Skye felt her decision about Mrs. Johnson being placed in more and more solid standing as she spoke. It was how she spoke that made Skye like her. She talked to Skye like no adult ever did, ever does. She talked to her like she was an adult, too.

“That shouldn’t be bad… It’s not like I know anyone besides Jemma to miss at recess anyways, and I’ll be in class with her all day.” Skye usually hated cooperating with new teachers, but she was excited to work with her.

“That’s a very good way of looking at it, Skye.” Mrs. Johnson looked up at the seat filling the room, and counted the full ones silently, “Bobbi, you’ll need to get to class, and Jemma please take your seat. Class will be starting as soon as I introduce Skye.” Skye grabbed Jemma before she could get too far away.

“Who was that girl, Jemma?”

“That was Bobbi. Sometimes she babysits us for Dad when he has to run short errands. Her and Mack.”

“Who’s Mack?”

“Ask Leo!” Jemma grinned madly and giggled, pulling away and heading for her seat. Skye watched her go, scanning the area immediately around her and felt alarm welling as she realized no seats in Jemma’s immediate proximity were still open. There were several open seats, but Skye had no indication of which she would be assigned to.

“Good morning, children,” Mrs. Johnson greeted softly, letting a range of ‘good morning’s echo back to her, “I have a treat for you today! The new student I told you about last Friday is here already.” She gestured to Skye, motioning for her to come stand beside her.

“This is Skye May-Coulson, and she’s not only new to this school but she’s new to the May-Coulson household. Jemma is indeed her sister, for those who were wondering. I know you’ll all do your best to ensure she feels welcome to our community.” A hand pressed on Skye’s shouldering, gently making her move ahead, “She’ll be seated next Ian. Ian, please raise your hand.” A boy with dark hair raised his hand, and smiled at Skye happily. As she walked to her seat, she saw Jemma smiling widely at her and nodding encouragingly.

“Hey, Skye,” Ian leaned over when she reached her assigned desk, “I’m Ian. Guess we’ll be elbow buddies. I’m glad you’re sitting next to me.”

“Oh, why? Just because I’m new?”

“Nah, that’s not that interesting. It’s ‘cus you’re cute.” Skye blushed immediately swinging her head to stare at her new ‘elbow buddy’. She knew why Jemma had been so gleeful about her sitting next to him now. There always seemed to be a boy intent on acting like James Bond in every class, Skye was guessing this was him.

“Well, that makes one of us.” Instead of being insulted like Skye hoped he’d be, Ian laughed. Mrs. Johnson shushed them as she finalized the attendance and picked a child to bring it to the office.

Skye spent more time that lesson observing other children then she did paying attention to what Mrs. Johnson was saying, trying to pick out people to ask Jemma to introduce her to and hoping that Jemma didn’t like Ian too much. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that the Mrs. Johnson’s announcement of recess actually surprised her, and it occurred to her that she now had to take a test. As the other’s filed out, Jemma and Ian hung behind.

“Aren’t you coming to recess, Skye? I wanted to show you the best places on the playground.” Ian asked hopefully. He was still by their desk, watching her.

“I gotta take a test,” Skye told him bluntly, “And I promised Jemma that I’d let her show me the playground.” She sent Jemma a meaningful look, but Jemma was smiling evilly.

“I think if she finishes her test early enough we could both show her all of our favourite spots on the grounds.”

“That sounds like fun. Two cute girls and the best places in or on school grounds.” Ian smiled hugely and dashed off, eager now to play with others before his incredibly important mission when Skye was done.

“Why did you do that to me, Jemma?”

“He seems like someone you’d like,” Jemma giggled viciously.

“What do you mean by that?!”

“He looks like Grant a little, dontcha think?”

“No, Grant is way cu—They look nothing alike!” Skye snapped at Jemma, her face heated.

“Sure they do, they both have dark hair and big smiles. Any who, I gotta go outside and you gotta take a test. Don’t take too long. Ian is waiting,” Jemma sang out the last few words, making kissy lips at Skye before finally leaving.

The teacher slid a packet of paper onto her desk as soon as Jemma left, serene smile on her face.

“Take your time Skye, and if when you’re done you want to wait in here, none of the others need to know when you finished.”

“Thank Mrs. Johnson, but I’ll go out when I’m done. I’m kinda excited about this school.”

“Oh, are you? Why is that?” Mrs. Johnson sat on the desk on the other side of the aisle, lowering herself to Skye’s eye level again. She folded her hands in her lap and gave Skye an inviting look, “If you want to tell me that is.” Skye bit her lip, staring at the test under her hands.

“Well, I guess it’s like… I feel like something really important is supposed to happen here. Like, if everything goes well with the school, Mrs. Coulson will like me more and they won’t send me away again.” Skye looked at Mrs. Johnson embarrassed, but found her expression to be one of surprise, “It’s not like Mrs. Coulson is mean or anything, but she’s so quiet. And she didn’t want to take me shopping alone, and she thinks that sending me away would be okay if something really really bad happened. I don’t know what counts as really really bad, but I heard her telling Mr. Coulson that the first night I was there. Leo and Jemma’s aunt Maria asked me if I was eavesdropping but it wasn’t on purpose so I told her no. And it’s been bothering me ever since because every other family has always given me up, but Jemma and Leo like me and want me around. And I’ve never felt so liked by foster-siblings and I don’t want to lose them. And I’m scared, and I just feel like if this week goes well, if the school likes me and Leo and Jemma like me, then Mrs. and Mr. Coulson will like me, too. And then I can stay, and I don’t have to be scared anymore.” Skye rambled on, shifting her eyes away from Mrs. Johnson to stare hard at the desk. She kind of tuned the teacher out, and just started venting her thoughts out.

“That’s certainly a lot for a little girl to sit with on her chest. Skye, I understand how bad it can feel to have what’s important to you taken away. To feel like you’ve lost something irreplaceable. So if you need someone to listen, someone who you can trust won’t tell Mrs. and Mr. Coulson what you’re thinking or worried about, I’m that person. I’ll be here for you while you’re transitioning, and even after that. Even after you’re not in my class anymore. Does that sound okay?”

“I like the sound of that,” Skye whispered, eyes watering, “I really do.” She wiped at her eyes angrily, “I keep crying, I don’t know why. I’m not a crybaby, but I can’t seem to stop it lately.”

“It’s stress, Skye. It’s because of how badly you want to stay here with this family. It’s just what your brain and body need to do to make it easier to feel better later. It’s good to cry when you need to.”

“People hate crybabies, though.”

“Those people don’t understand the importance of tears,” Mrs. Johnson handed her a handkerchief, and waited as Skye wiped the tears from her face.

“Thank you. I’m ready to take the test now.” Skye smiled at Mrs. Johnson, even with her puffy eyes. She felt warm inside, and felt infinitely lucky that she had wound up with her as a teacher.

When Skye got back to the house that afternoon, she saw that her bed was made and the clothes she’d gotten out put away. She went to bed with a queasy stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next comes Tuesday. Spot what season I was on when I was writing this.
> 
> My friend WordSmithBreaker beta'd for me. A long time ago, honestly he might now even remember anymore? Thanks, though, broski, sorry I ain't shit.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two years of silence than two updates in the same month. Welcome to writing hell. 
> 
> This chapter has what is probably my favourite scene in this story in it, I'm excited to know what ya'll think of it.
> 
> Beta'd by WordSmithBreaker

Tuesday morning, Skye again woke up before she was supposed to. This time, however, it was Mrs. Coulson waking her up. She was standing by her bed, bent over with one hand on Skye’s forehead.

“I’m not sick,” Skye murmured sleepily.

“I know, I was trying to wake you up before Leo and Jemma get up. Do you still want to learn the rules about brushing your teeth?” Skye sat up quickly, drowsy but energized enough to rise.

“Yeah. yeah! before they wake up and call me gross again. That’s a good idea, you’re smart.” Skye let her sleep addled brain speak for her. She rose, and got out the jeans and t shirt she’d almost worn yesterday, “I’ll meet you in the bathroom, but I have to get dressed before brushing my teeth.” Melinda nodded, leaving the room. Skye stared as she closed the door. She changed quickly, folding her pajamas and placing them at the foot of her bed. She made her bed too, straightening the sheets and rearranging the pillows and stuffed animals. Skye looked around the room, scanning it for anything that Mr. Coulson might feel like he was obligated to clean. Satisfied that there wasn’t anything, she dashed down the hallway to meet Mrs. Coulson.

“I’m here!” Skye said in a hushed whisper as she entered the bathroom. Melinda was sitting on the closed toilet, waiting patiently.

“So you are.” She moved smoothly, managing to stand, move to the counter, and turn to face Skye all in one motion, “Let’s start with the basics. Did you know that you’re supposed to brush your teeth for two minutes?” Skye shook her head no, “That’s how long its supposed to take.”

“Okay, that’s fair I guess. What about flossing?”

Melinda and Skye spent about ten minutes in the bathroom talking about dental hygiene before Skye became aware of the time, or rather of her not knowing time.

“Oh, wait, when do Leo and Jemma wake up?”

“Not for fifteen more minutes. I thought you’d take longer getting dressed than you did.”

“I planned my outfit yesterday to save time this morning!”

“That’s efficient.” Skye smiled at her, preening a little under the praise. Her gums feeling all tingly from flossing and brushing. She was still kind of surprised that you were supposed to floss as least once a day. It sounded like a lot of work for something that didn’t seem to make a huge result.

“Well, Skye,” Melinda spoke again, surprising her, “We finished earlier than I was planning, so we have free time. Would you like to go help Phil make breakfast? It’s pancakes today.”

“Oh! Can I?” Skye bounced up and down as Melinda placed the toothpaste back away, “Hey, wait, why didn’t that toothpaste taste bad?”

“You hate cinnamon toothpaste, too? I used a tube of the normal stuff that I keep in here for when I have to brush my teeth in here.”

“That’s clever. I wish I could do something like that.”

“Well, I’ll put it in this drawer down here so you can reach it then. No need to make you keep a taste you hate in your mouth for two whole minutes.”

“Thanks!” Skye’s eyes fell to the toilet, “Hey, um, can I use that?” Melinda looked behind her and nodded. As she passed Skye, she ruffled the girl’s hair affectionately.

“Come downstairs when you’re done if you want to help Phil.”

“I will,” Skye promised to Melinda’s back. Melinda, outside of the closed door, smiled to herself. She and Skye were getting along well, and while she wasn’t sure if it’d last she was glad it was happening at all. The more time she spent with Skye, the less likely it was that the girl would remain afraid of her.

She heard Skye flush, and made her way downstairs to Phil. He had a cup of tea waiting for her already, handing it to her with a smile and a kiss.

“Good morning. You took longer than usual getting down here.”

“I was teaching Skye-“ Melinda stopped herself, knowing Skye wouldn’t like it if she told Phil, “something she wanted to know for school.” She kept her pace smooth, hiding the momentary lapse. Phil caught it, though, raising an eyebrow at her. “It’s not important.”

“Okay, where’s Skye?”

“Right here!” Skye called, bouncing into the room, “Mrs. Coulson said I could help you cook pancakes if I came down! Can I?”

“How can I say no to that face? Come on you can mix.” Skye gave an excited cry and dashed up to the counter.

Melinda sat back and watched them cook together, Skye using two hands to flip the pancakes with seriousness etched into her tiny face. Phil was smiling at her encouragingly, telling her she was a great assistant.

“Maybe tomorrow I can wake up early and help you cook again!” Skye looked nervous suddenly, “Um, maybe. If you’re okay with that, Mr. Coulson.”

“It sounds like a blast Skye.” Phil handed her the butter and syrup, asking her to bring them to the table.

“Do Jemma and Leo like helping you cook?”

“Not in the morning,” Phil replied, carrying the stack of pancakes to the table. Melinda grabbed the stack of plates and utensils, following the two to the dining room. Skye was already in her seat, staring at the clock on the wall as the hands ticked by slowly.

“So how much longer till Jemma and Leo are awake?”

“They should be awake already. They’re probably getting dressed.”

“Skye, you’re up early!”

“Speak of the devils,” Phil said quietly. Jemma and Leo were standing in the doorway, staring at Skye curiously.

“Why’d you get up so early?” Jemma asked, making her way slowly to her seat.

“I had something to do.”

“What was it?” Leo interjected.

“Nothin’.” Skye answered noncommittally.

“You don’t get up early to do nothing, you must have been doing something.” Leo said, before his eyes widened. He leaned closer to Skye and whispered to her, “Did you do something bad?”

“No!” Skye was angry in a second, eyes narrowing at Leo, “Why do I have to be doing something bad?”

“Because you won’t tell us what you were doing.” Jemma informed her, “If you need to keep a secret, it’s a bad thing.”

“Not all secrets are bad,” Melinda interrupted, placing a plate in front of each of the children, “Some secrets are made for safety purposes, and some secrets aren’t even made at all.”

“How can it be a secret if it’s not made?”

“Something so small and unimportant happens that no one besides the people that did it need to know about it. So, everyone else is never told. Thereby it is an unmade secret.”

“That’s not how secrets work, though!” Jemma said indignantly, “If it doesn’t matter, why doesn’t Skye just tell us!”

“Because it’s not her secret to share. Its mine.” Melinda said, her tone putting an end to the argument. Jemma pouted, staring at her empty plate while silently fuming.

“Why did you share a secret with Skye, and not with us?” Leo asked, his voice soft. Skye looked from Leo to Melinda to Jemma, before her eyes fell on her plate.

“Because she needed it, and you two didn’t.” Melinda explained, “Like how Phil needs allergy pills in the spring and I don’t. No need for me to take a pill I don’t need, no need for you and Jemma to learn a secret you don’t need.”  Leo nodded solemnly, letting his gaze fall.

Phil walked into the room, carrying three glasses of milk and a cup of coffee on a tray.

“Okay, who’s ready for breakfast? It’s made with extra love, today.” He opened his eyes, and saw all three kids staring at their plates like they’d been scolded, and Melinda silently distributing pancakes, “What did I miss?”

“Nothing,” Melinda’s voice was flat, “just a conversation.”

“Oh-kay.” Phil set the milk before the kids and put the coffee by his plate, before taking his seat, “Whose ready to eat? Skye helped me cook breakfast today since she woke up so early, so the pancakes are going to be especially good this morning. Right, Skye?” Phil bent so he was at eye level with her, smiling. Skye gave him a small smile back, poking the prongs of her fork into the pancakes.

“Is that why you woke up so early? Not much of a secret.” Jemma muttered, childish venom in her words. Melinda narrowed her eyes slightly in what she knew Leo and Jemma called her Medusa Stare. The force of her look made Jemma look up before bowing her head again quickly, shamed but angry at the silent scolding. Skye tightened her hold on her fork. Phil stared at Jemma, slightly surprised at her.

“What’s it matter what the secret is? This is a nice breakfast, and Skye and I made it for you guys. Let’s just eat up, okay?” Phil sighed. Something had made Jemma mad, Leo nervous, and Skye sad. They had been getting along so well before, he was disappointed to see something so minor disrupt that. Melinda didn’t look like she was going to help him, eating her food quietly. The only sound around the table was the sound of forks scrapping the plates.

Jemma and Leo made eye contact as they cleared their plates. Motions in sync, they pushed their chairs back and headed for the doorway.

“We’re going to brush our teeth. Come on, Skye.” Leo was the one who spoke, Jemma just barely pausing at the door to wait for her.

“I already brushed my teeth this morning. I’m going to help your dad clean up the table, okay?” Skye responded sweetly to Leo, before meeting Jemma’s less than pleased gaze with an equal expression. Phil groaned internally, hoping they didn’t develop some sort of sibling rivalry. They left the room, and Phil finished his breakfast. Standing, he pushed back his chair with his legs and grabbed the dishes closest to him.

“You don’t really have to help me clean up, Skye. You can brush your teeth in me and Melinda’s room if you want.”

“I really did brush my teeth already,.” Skye explained, “I want to help you clean up. I helped make the mess.” Phil nodded, waiting for Skye to grab the other plates and utensils before leading her to the kitchen.

“I cleaned my room, too, when I got up. You don’t gotta clean my room.” Skye told him, holding out the dishes to him as he rinses the ones he’d held.

“Thank you Skye, but don’t worry about making things easier on me. We’re here to make things easier on you.” Skye nodded, and Phil knew her room would still be cleaned tomorrow when he checked it as well.

“Why are Jemma and Leo so upset that I won’t tell them why I woke up early? It doesn’t seem important enough to get so mad about.”

“It’s just not something that they’re used to, someone not being willing to tell them something. Melinda and I are very upfront about most topics, and they always tell each other everything. It’s probably frustrating to Jemma to have someone who doesn’t want to tell her everything, and it makes Leo nervous when people get angry around him. Give them time, they’ll get used to having a different dynamic with you.”

“What’s a dynamic?”

“It is a word that says how a relationship goes. Like, Melinda and I have the dynamic of a husband and a wife. Leo and Jemma have the dynamic of a sister and brother. The four of us have the dynamic of a family.”

Skye remained quiet as she thought it over, moving to Phil’s other side to put dishes in the drying rack. Phil washed in silence, giving her the quiet time he figured she needed.

“So,” Skye started to talk, moving very slowly as she moved dishes, “I don’t have any of those dynamos…” Phil corrected her to ‘dynamic’ without really registering what she’d said. Then he stopped washing for a moment to look at the seven-year-old.

“That’s not what I meant to imply. The thing about dynamics is that they exist between people, who are always changing. Which means dynamics are always changing. So, while you may not have those relationships with Leo and Jemma now, and you may never have identical relationships, you’ll still form them. And they’ll be just as good the ones that are here now.” Skye was still looking thoughtful, staring deeply into the towel in her hands.

“So, I’ll never be the same as Jemma and Leo?”

“Jemma and Leo aren’t even the same as each other.” Phil told her, hoping his words came across as comforting. He was about to speak again when Leo appeared in the doorway.

“Skye, it’s time to head to the bus stop.” Skye nodded back at him, setting the towel down and joining him at the doorway.

“Hey, no goodbye hug today?” Phil asked, smiling playfully and opening his arms. Leo smiled for the first time that morning and went to Phil for a hug. Skye watched them, wanting to hug him as well but not certain that she was permitted. Leo moved out of the hug, and back to the door waiting just beyond for Skye. She looked at Leo, and back to Phil with a questioning look on her face.

“Will Mrs. Coulson and I ever have a dynuh-um, dynamic?” She said the word slowly, making sure she pronounced each letter right and gave the right word.

“Of course you will, it just takes time.” Phil assured her, exuding surety. Skye nodded, giving him a smile with only the fraction of confidence he wanted from her. Leo watched Skye, his eyes peering up from a downturned face.

Skye fell into place walking beside him, looking ahead for Jemma.

“Where is Jemma, Leo?”

“She went ahead to the bus stop without us.”

“Oh,” A look of guilt crossed over her face.

“Yeah, I asked her to. I wanted to talk to you, without Jemma. It’s like we haven’t talked yet without someone else here. But you and Jemma get that chance in the classroom and at recess. It felt unfair to me, so we decided that some mornings I should walk with just you. So we can talk.”

“Oh. Wait, so you guys just chose that without me?” Leo looked at her surprised, and Skye knew that they hadn’t even thought about her feelings on this. But she was starting to get the image that they rarely thought about other people the way they thought about each other. She guessed that’s what Phil meant by their different dynamic.

“I didn’t… think about that. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Skye said, not really feeling like it was okay, “I guess it is okay so long as you guys don’t do it all the time…” Leo didn’t respond, and Skye didn’t feel like saying anything more.

“So,” Leo asked as they reached the sidewalk and turned to the stop sign at the end of the street, “What were you and Dad saying about dynamics?”

“Oh, um,” Skye froze as she battled with several thoughts as once. On one hand, if she didn’t tell Leo the truth, he might get mad at her like Jemma. But if she did, Leo might think she was stupid or a coward, “I, uh, didn’t know what a dynamic was, and he was telling me. I asked some questions.”

“Mmhmm, I heard that. Were you asking about me and Jemma? I know we act weird, kids in school tell us we do all the time.”

“It wasn’t anything bad,” Skye blurted out, “It was just… I don’t get why you and her do some of the stuff you do. I want to get it so I don’t mess up more like I did this morning. I never knew people got so mad about secrets. Lots of kids I knew have secrets and we all just accepted that that was the end of it.”

“Jemma does kinda hate secrets, no matter from who. She gets mad at Mom and Dad all the time because they tell us we don’t need to know things, they say that stuff can wait till we’re older. Things like that. But she never stays mad. As soon as she cools down she just accepts that she doesn’t know.”

“So she’s not really really angry at me, just that I didn’t tell her something? I didn’t ruin anything?”

“Ruin anything? No, no way! Jemma loves you,” Leo gestured loosely towards Jemma, who was trying to not look like she was watching them anxiously. Skye saw her head towards them slightly more than before, and smiled broadly at her. Jemma looked relieved, turning fully towards them.

“Hey Skye, I’m sorry I got mad at you earlier. I forget that you haven’t been around forever, and don’t do things the same way as Leo and me. Not everything is like science, you can’t just keep questioning until you get the answer.”

“It’s okay, I get it.” And just like that it was like the fight didn’t happen. Jemma grabbed Skye’s hand and started babbling excitedly about school today, and how she read ahead in their science textbook and she was excited about the new unit coming up. Leo grabbed Skye’s other hand, swaying it between them silently.

At school, Skye sat silently next to Ian, trying her best to ignore him until class started. He kept looking over at her, trying to get her to look at him by nudging her with the paper he’d put in front of him.

“Skye, hey Skye, hey stop ignoring me.” Skye gave in and looked at him, glowering at him, “Why are you ignoring me.”

“I’m waiting for class to start.”

“Okay, so what? Class doesn’t start for like, five more minutes.”

“I don’t wanna talk. I’m thinkin’ about stuff.”

“What stuff?”

“My friends.”

“You mean Jemma?”

“Yeah, and Leo, and Grant.”

“What about me?”

“What about you?”

“Aren’t I your friend?”

“I don’t know you.” Skye told him with finality. But Ian was not the type of boy to be told no. He stared at her hard for several moments in tense silence.

“When you say Grant, do you mean Grant Garrett?” Skye perked up suddenly.

“Yeah, do you know him? He’s really good at hide’n’go seek!”

“Yeah, I know Grant. He’s a jerk. You’re wasting time trying to be friends with him.” Skye lost her excited look, visibly hardening while preparing to defend her friend.

“I don’t think you know my Grant then.” Ian huffed at her, rolling his eyes.

“I’m sure a new girl really knows more about him then me. At least I’ve been around for a while. His dad works for my dad, so I’ve seen Grant a lot and he’s always a jerk. And his dad is a loud idiot.”

“You’re not very nice.”

“I don’t need to be nice. I’m nice when I want to be, and if you’re really friends with Grant Garrett, then I don’t think I want to be nice to you.”

“What, that’s dumb! You’re being dumb! Jemma is friends with him, too, and you liked us fine yesterday.”

“Jemma? Jemma is friends with him? She’s not as smart as she thinks she is.” Ian hunkered down in his seat, crossing his arms, “You two are not getting invited to my birthday party. Neither is Grant. No gross lame people.”

“Jemma is super smart, and Grant is the nicest person ever. You have no clue what you’re saying, and if you don’t stop, I’ll do something.”

“You’ll do what?” Neither kid payed attention to Mrs. Johnson taking roll, and trying to start class, “You’ll tell on me? I didn’t think you were that much of a crybaby.” Skye felt the colour draining from her face, and hot rage filling her head.

“We wouldn’t want to go to some creep’s party. If you think Grant is bad, then I think you’re bad and I’m not speaking to you until you say sorry, and I’ll tell everyone what a butthead you are.” Skye curled her shaking fists into her side, “No one will want to be friends with you.”

“No one will want to be my friend, huh. At least I’d still have a real family! Unlike you. What did Mrs. Johnson say, that you’re new to Jemma’s family? Why’d ya’ have to get a new family, huh? Because your real one didn’t want you? I bet your actual mom and dad were super happy to get rid of you. I bet your mom hated you, and your dad left to get away from you!” Ian yelled at Skye, getting up so he could stand over her. Skye moved to get away from him into the aisle, and his fist lashed out. It collided with her stomach, sending her tumbling backwards. She heard Mrs. Johnson yelling at Ian, then she was on the ground grasping at her head with a dull throb in her stomach.

“Skye!” Jemma was dashing to her side as soon as she fell, hugging the shocked girl to her, “Why did you push her?” Skye was still processing what had happened, the back of her head stinging harshly.

“She started it! If she wasn’t so terrible I might like her instead, but she is terrible and she deserves it.” Ian stepped forward before Mrs. Johnson stepped in front of him, separating him from the girls.

“Ian, you will go stand in the corner and not move until I come for you. You are going to the principal’s office, and your father will be alerted about this incident.” She pointed to the corner by the door, “Go. And think about why you shouldn’t hurt your classmates.” Ian glared, eyes watering with anger.

“It’s not my fault Skye isn’t good for anything.” Skye stared after him wide eyed, before tilting her head to look at Mrs. Johnson.

“I’m sorry we were arguing, Mrs. Johnson. I shoulda just ignored him.”

“We’ll worry about the arguing later, Skye, for now, let me look at your head,” She knelt and carefully pulled Skye towards her, “I don’t think it’s bad but I’m going to send you to the nurse’s office anyways. I’m sorry Skye, but the office is going to have to call your parents, too. It’s school policy.”

“How can you call my parents, I don’t even know where they are,” Skye looked lost, while Mrs. Johnson looked confused and surprised. Jemma tapped Skye’s shoulder.

“She means Mom and Dad.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Coulson?”

“Yes Skye, Mrs. and Mr. Coulson. Jemma, can you help Skye find the nurse’s office and wait there with her.”

“Yes ma’am. Come on, Skye.” Jemma and Skye stood up, walking out of the room. Ian bared his teeth at her as she passed, and Skye fought the urge to punch his stupid face. Only the thought that it would make everything worse stopped her. She and Jemma were a few doors down before Skye spoke.

“He called you dumb.” Jemma was alarmed, opening her mouth to ask why, “And he said that Grant was a jerk, and his dad was a loud idiot. He wouldn’t stop saying mean things about you guys, so I told him I’d tell everyone how mean he was and then they wouldn’t want to be friends anymore.”

“Dad says that people shouldn’t talk when their mad, because they say things that they’ll end up regretting,” Skye looked away from Jemma before she squeezed her hand, “But I’m happy you stood up for me. I wouldn’t have said anything if he’d said that to me, about me. Leo, too.”

“Kids say a lot of bad things, especially in the foster care system. I learned there that if someone says something mean to you, you have to say something worse, otherwise they’ll just coming back to put all of their mean onto you.” Skye sighed, “I guess Ian learned the same thing, too.”

“You mean because of what he said before he pushed you? About your family?”

“Yeah.” Jemma turned into a door labeled ‘Nurse,’ knocking on the open door before entering.

“My sister was pushed in class, she hit her head on a desk. Mrs. Johnson asked me to bring her here.” The male nurse gave a sympathetic sigh, standing to retrieve an ice pack.

“That wasn’t very nice of them, huh?” He knelt in front of the girls, smiling at them, “What’s your name, kiddo?”

“Skye.”

“While Skye, I’m Lincoln. Can I take a look at your head, make sure that bump isn’t too nasty?”

Skye nodded, moving to the seat that Lincoln pointed out and bowing her head so he could see the back.

“Thanks for walking her down here…” Lincoln paused for Jemma to fill in the blank.

“Jemma Coulson-May.”

“Jemma. Did your teacher want you to wait for her, or do you need a hall pass to go back to class?”

“I gotta wait here with Skye.” Jemma took a seat next to Skye.

“I messed up.” Skye stated solemnly, holding the ice-pack to the bump on her head, “The office people are going to call your Mom and Dad, and tell them what I did, and they’re going to be so angry.”

“Why would they be angry at you? It sounds to me like you didn’t really do anything wrong.” Jemma rubbed her shoulder in an attempt at comfort, trying to get Skye to look at her.

Skye didn’t respond to Jemma opting instead to stare at her fist, clenched against her knee. Her mind was racing, heart pounding as every way for this to end badly flew through her mind faster then she could grasp the thoughts. An endless mantra of ‘it’ll be fine’ following like a holy chant after every terrible scenario completed itself.

Jemma and Skye sat in silence while they waited, one not knowing what to say the other not wanting to say anything. Not yet. Lincoln walked over eventually, telling the girls gently that they’re parents and classmate were gathered in the office. Jemma stood up, hand clutching Skye’s but Skye didn’t move. She clung to the edge of the chair, pressing her lips together and staring into the tiles with wide eyes.

“Skye?” Jemma tugged gently at her hand, “We need to go the office now, okay? It’ll be fine, you’ll see. Dad won’t get mad, and if Mom gets mad it’ll be at Ian for hitting you.” Skye reluctantly got to her feet, “But either way, they aren’t mad at you.” Skye nodded, not looking at Jemma as she followed her to what felt like her inevitable doom. She passed the icepack off the Lincoln as she went out the door, dropping her hand uselessly to her side.

In the office, she sat where directed between Melinda and Phil, too afraid to look at them just yet. She jolted in surprise when she felt soft thin fingers brushing through her hair, trailing gently over the bump. Skye looked up in surprise at Melinda, her heart thumping at she looked at Melinda’s angry face. Tears flooded her eyes, and Skye jerked her head away. It was easier to stare at her hands, clasped so tightly in her lap that her knuckles where white and her fingers were red and tingly. The hand that Melinda had felt Skye’s head with came to rest on top of Skye’s clasped hands.

“You’ll hurt your fingers squeezing your hands like that,” When Skye unclasped her hands, Melinda wrapped one of her own around Skye’s right. Skye blinked away the tears, breathing carefully.

Phil’s hand also appeared in her downturned vision, softly wiggling her knee before resting on his own once again. The principal entered shortly after that, with Ian and Mr. Quinn in tow.

Skye ignored Ian glaring at her, sitting beside his father and staring the principal down like that would make all of this Skye’s fault.

“Well, Mr. Quinn, Mr. Coulson, Mrs. May-Coulson, you’ve been told by now that your children had an… altercation in class today.”

“According to Ian, an argument and a push. That’s hardly worth upsetting my entire day’s schedule over.” Mr. Quinn made Skye nervous. She’d had a foster dad like him before. He was always right, always owned the room, and was always mad just in case anyone thought to argue with him it seemed. She sat further back, effectively putting Phil between herself and him.

“Well, Mr. Quinn, it is worth the time because from what I was told your son started the argument, as well as escalated it.” The principal leaned forwards, “That is not the type of behavior I want in my school. Problems can be talked over, no shouting and certainly no pushing are necessary.” Ian muttered to himself angrily, bringing the principal’s attention to him, “What was that, Ian?”

Ian said nothing, focusing on the window instead of the room until his father cleared his throat.

“Ian, when our superior asks us a question, what do we do?”

“Answer them.” Mr. Quinn motioned towards the principal with an expression that said, ‘go on then,’ “I said, it wouldn’t’ve happened if Skye had talked to me when I told her to instead of ignoring me.” Phil looked at Melinda, raising his eyebrows and grimacing as he looked away from her, indicating Ian with his eyes. Melinda barely smiled, nodding in agreement to Phil’s silent assessment of the little hellion.

“Why was Skye ignoring you?” The principal looked between the two children. Skye finally shifted her focus to the woman in front of all of them. The name plate on her desk announced her to ‘Ms. Nathan.’

“Because she’s bad and her friends are all bad, too.” Ian answered, seeming completely sure of his answer. The principal clicked her tongue.

“You can’t demand people talk to you, certainly not classmates.” Phil spoke up, not moving his posture or looking at Ian.

“When your betters talk to you, you answer.” Ian stated as his father had a moment ago. Mr. Quinn gave an exasperated sigh as the other adults in the room stared at them incredulously.

“We have talked about this Ian, we aren’t _better_ —“

“We have more money, and nicer clothes, we go on cooler trips. How are we not better?” Ian turned towards his father finally, “Mom says we are.”

“Your mother?” Mr. Quinn gave another, angrier sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, “We will discuss this later, as a family, but we aren’t here to talk about _that_.” Mr. Quinn breathed deeply, running the hand down over his face while whispering to himself.

The principal stared at Ian like she was reassessing him, before turning slightly to look at Skye.

“Skye, why were you ignoring Ian?” Skye moved in her seat slightly, uncomfortable being asked to speak and feeling like she was about to make up excuses. She pushed down her discomfort and decided that if adults thought honesty was best, she’d just tell her the truth no matter how angry that might make Ian. If she was asked, did that count as being a tattle-tale?

“I didn’t want to talk to him, I was thinking about stuff. When I told him I didn’t want to talk to him, he started insulting Jemma and our friend Grant.”

“No, you said I wasn’t your friend. And that I was a jerk.”

“I called you a jerk after you said I was stupid for wanting to be friends with Grant, called me a crybaby, and called Jemma dumb!” Skye yanked her hand out of Melinda’s and crossed her arms, “I woulda been friends with you after more than two days, but you kept being pushy and got really mean when I didn’t do what you wanted to me. That’s not someone I _want_ to be friends with! It’s bad enough being new, I don’t need people being mean to me already.” Skye curled her shoulder’s forward, like it would put a wall between her and the consequences of what she said.

“It’s not my fault. You’re bad at this.”

“Ian.” There was a warning tone to the principal’s voice, “I’ll tell Mrs. Johnson to put Ian in a different seat, and if there’s any more trouble then we can discuss changing his classrooms. It sounds like your son, Mr. Quinn, was entirely responsible for the aggression. Skye, for future reference, if someone else puts you in a situation where they won’t listen to you or let you stop the conversation try involving the teacher. Mrs. Johnson may have been able to prevent things like this in the future.”

“I’d appreciate the seat change, we don’t want Skye to be more nervous than necessary at a new school.” Phil smiled at Ms. Nathan softly.

“I was there first, it should be Skye who gets moved!”

“Ian!” Ian gave a frustrated sigh at his father’s angered tone, “What has gotten into you lately?”

“It’s not always about who was where first, sometimes it has more to do with who did what.” Phil looked at Ian, then at Mr. Quinn, before turning back to Ms. Nathan.

“His mother and I will definitely be discussing this at home, Ian will not harm another one of his classmates. I’m sorry he pushed your daughter.” Phil and Melinda nodded at him, “Ms. Nathan, may I check my son out of school for the day, I want to handle this as soon as possible.”

“Of course, Mr. Quinn, thank you for taking this so seriously. Skye, if you want to return to class, you may. Or you can go home with your parents if that’d make you feel better?”

“Class, I don’t want Jemma or Mrs. Johnson to worry about us.” In the hall, Mr. Quinn practically pulled Ian from the school. He could be heard berating his pouting son until the front door closed behind them.

Ms. Nathan turned after the door closed, looking towards Skye and the Coulsons.

“I’m sorry about Ian’s behavior Skye. I assure you the students here are usually politer than he was,” She crouched slightly, smiling sweetly at Skye in a way that made Skye angry. It wasn’t like Mrs. Johnson had earlier. She was saying similar things, but the way she was saying them was making Skye feel small and stupid. “I’m sure you won’t have any more trouble in your class, and if you do, please don’t hesitate to come to Mrs. Johnson and me. We are here to help you.” Skye nodded stiffly at her, saying ‘thanks’ in a quiet voice. Ms. Nathan stood, shaking Phil’s hand and smiling wider. Phil nodded to her, smiling in kind and Skye wondered for a second if they knew each other.

“Thanks Audrey.” Ms. Nathan shook Melinda’s hand and departed, leaving the three of them together in an empty hallway. Phil knelt on the ground to be at eye level with Skye, smiling comfortingly.

“We can still take you home if you want, Skye. It’s not too late to change your mind.” Skye shook her head, “Well, okay than. If you’re sure.”

“I’m sorry.” The apology came quickly, louder than it needed to be, “I didn’t want to get in a fight, I just wanted him to leave me alone. And then he started calling Jemma names, and then he pushed me. I just wanted to go to school and learn about stuff Columbus didn’t actually do, and play with Jemma on the playground, and—“

“Hey, hey, hey, we aren’t angry at you, Skye. You didn’t do anything wrong, okay?” Phil put his arms on Skye’s shoulders, considering pulling her in for a hug.

“If it were me, I would’ve punched him back.” Melinda spoke again for the first time since she’d held Skye’s hand.

“Melinda,” Phil sounded like he was going to say something more when Melinda cut him off.

“It’s probably better that you didn’t. We’ll save punching for when you’re older.”

“Or we don’t, you know either one might work.”

“All of our kids are learning at least basic self-defense before they’re adults, Phil.”

“Oh, that, of course they are. Definitely.” Melinda’s eyebrows knitted together, before she rolled her eyes in exasperation.

“You didn’t seriously think I meant—“ Melinda cut herself off, flicking her eyes down to Skye.

“So, you guys aren’t angry at me?”

“No,” Melinda’s answer was simple, but it was more than enough for Skye. She sighed in relief, her entire body relaxing.

Phil and Melinda waved at Skye before leaving, wishing her a good day. She returned to class and sat at her original desk, now empty of Ian’s stuff. Jemma made eye contact with her from a few desks over, giving Skye a thumbs-up.

The rest of the day was peaceful. No one in class seemed angry at her for Ian’s absence, some people even said they were sorry Skye had had to sit next to him at all. Recess was fun, and it turned out the Leo and Grant had the same recess period as them. There was a boy standing just behind Grant as he and Leo ran up to them, excitedly babbling about being able to play.

“Jemma, Skye! What are you doing out here, your class is never out here for recess! This is Antoine, he’s Grant’s friend!”

“Mrs. Johnson said that our recess period got moved over the weekend, didn’t say why though.”

“Doesn’t matter, now we’re all together!” Grant was bouncing on his feet, “Do you guys wanna play with us? Trip, are you OK with that?” Antoine walked closer, smiling confidently at Skye but stopped short when he saw Jemma.

“For sure! Hey, you’re the girl who won the science fair last year, with the mice in a maze!”

“You remember that?” Jemma seemed surprised, looking at Trip anew.

“Yeah! It was so cool,” Trip stepped closer to Jemma, “I’ve been wanting to ask how you did it, did your mom and dad help a lot? I made a volcano and my ma helped me so much I put her name on the project, too.” Trip laughed at himself for that, Jemma joining him a second later. Grant gave a short laugh, punching Trip’s shoulder lightly.

“Come on, do we want to talk or do we want to play?” Grant asked, impatience overpowering his excitement at introducing Trip. They ended up playing tag, chasing each other around the playground until everyone but Trip and Skye were too tired to run anymore.

Trip was chasing Skye, finally tapping her arm just as she tripped. They both collapsed into the grass, rolling over and laughing loudly. Trip thrust his fists into the air, whooping victoriously.

“I win!” Leo, Grant and Jemma made their way over to the other, flopping down in the grass alongside them. They lay in a circle in the grass, heads resting near each other as they watched clouds; their breathing was heavy still, and they were all red-faced from excitement and laughter.  Eventually, all five of them were calm again, simply relaxing in the grass. Skye stared upwards, unbelievably content with how her day had gone even after that unpleasantness with Ian.

“I feel like I’ve been here forever,” Skye spoke quietly, not sure if she wanted the others to hear her or not, “I want to be here forever.”

“That sucks, then,” Trip said, sitting up, “Because the recess bell just rang. We have to go.” He dusted off his pants, before offering a hand to Leo and Jemma each. Grant pulled Skye to her feet, picking a stray grass blade from her shirt. Trip and Grant ran off to find their teacher, Leo hesitated before he went to his.

Skye and Jemma looked at him, and his eye flickering between the two of them before Skye saw Jemma turning her head to look at her and met Jemma’s eyes. It was comforting and easy. They said nothing, but Skye knew exactly what they would be saying.

_You are here forever._

_We’re not letting you leave._

_We’re in this together now._

_You belong with us._

Leo put out his hands, only his pinky finger extended on each. Jemma hooked her pinky with Leo’s, holding out her other hand in the same way to Skye. She realized suddenly that this was one of their silent talks, and she was a part of it. Her heart beat wildly in her chest, and she hoped they would ignore the way she had to blink away tears. She had known for four days, but she loved them. And they loved her.

_I belong with you,_ Skye agreed with her pinky hooked around Leo’s, turning to look at Jemma. _I belong here_ , by linking her pinky with Jemma’s. _You two are my family, now and forever._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now and forever is a long time, but when family is on the line it doesn't feel like enough time at all. There are trials ahead for sure, but Skye knows she has Leo and Jemma at her back.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyday brings Friday a little closer, and Skye is certain nothing can make this party anything less than great.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, serious warning:
> 
> There's, not necessarily explicit, but certainly indepth description of child abuse this chapter. It's in the middle, when the chapter is focusing on Grant's Wednesday. It's pretty skippable, but even the after scene depicts some intense emotional manipulation (and potentially gas-lighting). It made me queasy to write but I really want it understood how horrible John is as a person and a father. It should be the worst of it for this story because, shit man, I don't like putting even fictional children though that kinda stuff. 
> 
> That being said, this has been beta'ed (by writengame) and edited for over a month, but I was trying to get the feel I wanted just right. Coming back to it after a while helps me with that.

There was something about knowing for certain, beyond doubt and anxiety, that Leo and Jemma would always be on her side from now on that soothed Skye like she’d never experienced before. Even if she felt like she was staying over at a friend’s house, Skye was more comfortable in the house than she had been before. Wednesday morning, Skye didn’t wait for anyone to come wake her up. She woke up and recognized the time by the colour of the sun through her curtains, heading down to help Phil cook breakfast.

“Good morning, Skye,” Phil spoke easily, knowing without turning she was there despite her quiet steps, “I’m making egg scrambles today, still interested in helping?”

“Yeah! I mean, yes, please.” Skye took the place next to him, watching him dice up onions and broccoli. He scrapped what he’d chopped into a pan with butter, stirring them lazily with a spatula to keep them from burning. “I don’t think I can flip those.” Skye said, mostly to herself.

“That’s okay. How about you start cracking the eggs for me, into that bowl there. I need seven of them.” Skye nodded, skootching the bowl closer to her so she could crack eggs on the side. Phil checked on her after he had added peppers to his pan, getting ready to start cutting up cheese.

“Mr. Coulson, why do you make such fancy breakfasts? Most people I ever lived with just did cereal.”

“Well, don’t you enjoy our breakfasts?”

“Yea, you cook really well.” Phil laughed, thanking her before directing her to grab a ladle for the eggs.

“The food is good, yes, but I like doing it because I get to see my wife and kids before we all go our own stuff for the day.”

“Do you work from home? You have an office, but Mrs. Coulson doesn’t. She leaves to go to work. Why is it different?” Phil looked at Skye seriously for a moment, seriously enough that Skye shifted uncomfortably. She’d probably asked a bad question, and was preparing to apologize when Phil answered.

“I do work from home. I work for the same people that Melinda does. Our jobs used to take us both away a lot on business, and then we,” Phil paused as though he was thinking, “decided that we wanted to have children. It was important to me at the time that Leo and Jemma have constant access to us so they could settle well, and really feel like family with us.

“And it’s no secret around work that while I’m good at what we do, Melinda is on a whole other level skill-wise. Honestly, I know a lot of other men who tell me that it’s too womanly of me to stay at home and take care of our kids, but I don’t do it for those men or their opinions. I do it for Jemma, for Leo, for Melinda. And now, Skye, I do it for you, too.” Skye watched the cooking vegetables intently, worried about what the look on Phil’s face would be.

“Do you do it for you? Are you happy?”

“I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life. I love this, even when it’s sad or hard, I love being a dad.”

“Why did you and Mrs. Coulson adopt kids?” Skye figured if she was already asking heavy questions, she might as well aim big, “Other kids, even others at St. Agnes’, always said adopting kids was for people who don’t have choices.”

“Are you kidding me?” Phil laughed, “Melinda and I had plenty of choices. Adoption was the best one for us. It’s different for every family, but this family—our family—adoption was what we wanted.” Skye finally worked up her courage to look at Phil, and was surprised by his smile, “You ask a lot of good questions, Skye. I’m grateful that you feel comfortable enough to ask me them.”

“I’m sorry I ask so many big questions. I know some of that stuff isn’t supposed to get asked.”

“There are no questions that you aren’t allowed to ask Skye.” Phil was glad to say this, then immediately heard his inner-Melinda asking him why he’d do that to them.

“Really?” This seemed to excite Skye, and Phil nodded, not wanting to detract from this for her.

“Really.”

“Can I use the computer in your office sometimes? I don’t wanna do anything bad, or play games. I like, um—” Skye mumbled the rest of her sentence to herself.

“What was that?”

“I like reading stuff about how computers work. I like them a lot and there are websites that tell you how to talk to computers!” Skye was getting excited as she told him this, going into a surprising amount of detail for a seven-year-old girl. Phil listened to her encouragingly until she began talking about coding and CSS script and HTML.

“Oh boy, sorry Skye you’re sort of losing me on that stuff. But, if you enjoy it I have no problem letting you use my computer to learn more. All I ask is that you let me or Melinda supervise your time on the computer. We do that with Leo and Jemma, too.” By the time that Skye got swept away talking about computers, Phil had finished cooking the egg scrambles, and they set the table together to the sound of her excited chatter. She agreed, thanking him profusely as Phil laughed and directed her to her seat.

The rest of the morning went smoothly. Both Phil and Melinda noticed the change between the three kids. Leo and Skye even ganged up on Jemma to make her admit that Nessie and phoenixes could be favourite animals, regardless of if they were real or not. It had less to do with the realness of the animal and more to do with the feelings they gave you; a favourite animal doesn’t have to be real it just has to make you happy (Nessie is real though). The debate ended in all three laughing, something that neither parent had seen before. When it was time for them to head to the bus stop, Melinda watched them race each other to the stop while attempting to remain holding hands.

That night, Melinda came home with glo-stars, reminding Skye that she had said she’d get her some if Skye had liked the stars in Leo’s room. The three kids decided together where the stars would go, and Leo convinced Skye to design constellations.

May lifted them up to reach the ceiling so they could stick the stars on themselves. Skye politely declined at first to be lifted, allowing Jemma and Leo to place the stars for her. Eventually, Leo insisted that she had to help put up her own glo-stars or it wasn’t as rewarding to look at them.

As Melinda swung her up to the ceiling, Skye squealed in laughter while clutching Melinda’s forearms tightly.

Phil found them like that, Jemma and Leo plotting star positions on a blank piece of printer paper and Melinda holding Skye on her shoulders as she placed the stars. He had intended to tell them dinner was ready but got caught up watching his family decorate together. By the time Melinda chose to address him, dinner had gone cold. She fell asleep on the couch between Jemma and Phil as they all watched a movie together.

 

Grant Garret’s Wednesday was far different from Skye’s.

He woke up at 6:15 am exactly and made his bed so his corners were crisp and there were no folds or wrinkles over the spread. He dressed in the clothes he had set out the night before after training and a shower. He stopped on the stairs to the living room, hearing John and Raina talking quietly about work. He was forbidden by John from eavesdropping, but Grant had to listen to him and Raina talking to know when it was safe. They were talking about centipedes, and making deliveries or meeting deadlines. When they had gone quiet enough that Grant thought it was safe, he entered the living room, saluting to John from the doorway.

“At ease,” John typical morning greeting made Grant smile, relieved that he seemed to be doing everything right lately. He hadn’t even gotten mad that Raina had brought him to a new playground that weekend, if anything he was pleased when he told him the Mr. Coulson had invited them to a party. He had quizzed Grant on what he saw and learned, and congratulated him on his dutiful assessment of the area. As Grant sat at the table, John walked past and ruffled his hair.

“Good morning, Dad! Good morning, Raina!”

“Did you sleep well, Grant?” Raina asked as she placed a cereal box and a bowl in front of Grant, “Are you excited for Friday?”

“Yeah, it’s going to be so fun! Jemma asked if I was gunna sleepover but I didn’t know this was a sleepover kind of party.”

“You’re sleeping over.” John told him without looking up from his manila folder. “I have to work Friday night, so doesn’t Raina. No reason for you to stay here alone all night. Besides, you’ve been doing good lately. You deserve a reward.”

“Can we still pick up Trip from his mom’s house, too?”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I don’t go back on agreements.”

“Thank you, Dad, I’ll be on my best behavior.”

“Yeah, you’d better be. Phil might be a doughboy but the Cavalry takes no shit whatsoever.”

“What’s the Cavalry?” Grant asked, Raina subtly turning her head to John.

“Mind your own fucking business, Grant.”

“Yessir!” Grant gave another salute before eating his breakfast and going to brush his teeth. When he came back down, John was standing at the door, ready to leave. Raina was leaning against his chest, kissing him goodbye.

He sat on the couch watching TV for an hour before he had to go to his bus stop, stifling yawns and wishing he was allowed to sleep in on weekday mornings. But good soldiers got up with the sun, as John always told him.

Raina didn’t really talk to him, she was flitting about the house organizing stuff for work when she got a phone call.

“Hello?” Grant pretended to still be absorbed by the TV as he listened to what Raina said. “What, no I don’t know who that is. Tell him, why would I do that. We’re working on something right now and it’s very,” Raina was interrupted, Grant could tell by the snarl in her voice, “Alright, as you wish. I’ll inform him as soon as possible. Yes. Yes. Yes ma’am. Thank you for informing me.” Grant turned off the TV and grabbed his backpack as the clock turned to 7:09 am. He turned to Raina to wish her a goodbye, but found her storming out of the house and slamming the door behind her. Grant rushed to the door, opening it and slipping past her and she looked for the house key on her ring of keys.

“Be on your best behavior tonight, Grant. I don’t think John is going to be in a very good mood.”

“Yes Raina. I’ll stay out of the way.”

Grant left, sitting alone as always on the bus and all but clinging to Trip when he got to class. School was school, and it would have been fine if it weren’t for the knots in his stomach. Trip was funny and caring as always, convincing their friends to play Grant’s favourite game at recess. By the time he was on the bus home, Grant was back to feeling like today was a great day. When he opened the front door, however, it was to Raina and John arguing.

“I didn’t ask for anything to come up, John! It’s just work!”

“Well you work for me, too, and I need this shit done soon, Raina! I don’t have time for you to fuck off and play servant for that nut-job doctor all the time!”

“This wasn’t his fault, it’s that fucking wife of his! I just need to go deliver a message. You don’t need to get so angry, and you certainly don’t need to shout at me! Fuck! I don’t throw a temper tantrum whenever sh—” Raina looked past John and to Grant. John followed her eyes, turning on Grant and narrowing his eyes at him.

“I told you not to fucking eavesdrop, Grant, especially when we’re talking about work.” John started walking towards Grant, who fought the impulse to run from John.

“He just got home, lay off John! It’s not the kids fault you can’t keep you voice down.”

“Don’t you talk back to me, Raina. This is my house your in.” He spun to shove his finger in Raina’s face, pushing her out of her own space before rounding back towards Grant, “Both of you are in my house. If you’re back from school than you should be downstairs getting ready for training. Do I have to direct every second of your goddamn day Grant? Can you not keep your own fucking itinerary? Are you a fucking idiot?”

“No sir, I’m sorry. I’ll report to the training mat right away, sir.” Grant kept his head bowed, trying desperately to conceal his shaking.

“When you respond to your commanding officer, Grant Ward, you do what?” Grant’s eye filled with tears at the use of his old last name, the unpleasant reminders of life before almost paralyzing him. Blinking away the tears, Grant set his jaw and tilted his face to look John directly in the eye, raising his hand to his forehead in a salute.

“Sir, I look my commanding officer in the eye and speak clearly, sir.” This seemed to appease John’s temper slightly.

“I’ll be downstairs in three minutes, and I expect you to be waiting for me at the mat. Dismissed, Grant.” Grant nodded, marching quickly down to his room, practically running as soon as he was out of John’s sight.

After rushing into his training clothes, Grant stood at the ready in the old pantry. John had converted it into a home gym ages before he ever adopted Grant, and had begun using the space to train Grant to fight just last year. John walked in shortly after Grant, eyeing him critically before ordering him to get into a defensive stance.

John never hit Grant too hard, said he wouldn’t learn anything from broken ribs other than how to cry. But he was mad today, mad at Raina and by proxy mad at him, which meant he hit harder and paused less. After the usual hour of training had passed Grant was exhausted and relieved, making the mistake of relaxing. He was sure that no matter how angry John was, he would stick to Grant’s schedule. After training, he took a shower and had dinner. Than he did homework or read books John had approved of until bedtime.

John grabbed Grant’s arm, making Grant cry out in surprise and legitimate pain. Flinging Grant backwards, John let the seven-year-old slam into the wall as his shoulder wrenched from John’s iron grip.

“Never, Grant, and I mean never, let your guard down in a fight until you know it’s over. A dead soldier is a useless one, and a waste of my goddamned time. Do not make me waste my time.” Grant nodded, before remembering his training. He forced the tears from his eyes, looked John dead on as he saluted him.

“Yessir.” John finally relaxed, his shoulders coming out of their straight and tense hold. He pulled Grant to his feet, squeezing Grant’s hurt shoulder in a way that numbed the pain after a moment. Grant looked away from John after he’d relaxed, simply wanting to get away. John sighed, like all his aggravation had to escape through his lungs, and tried to soothe Grant’s unease.

“Grant, you understand why I’m hard on you, don’t you?” Grant nodded silently, seeing John was back in ‘Dad-mode’, though John carried on anyways. “Only the best soldiers live through war. And this world is at war, whether or not it knows it. I might not be around forever, to make sure you fight for the right causes, and to make sure you don’t get hurt. Do remember how it was before me, Grant?” Grant hesitated, remembering the Wards.

Their father yelling and leaving them to their mother, their mother hitting them like it was their fault they were born. Christian hurting him and Thomas again, and making them hurt each other, like it would make their mother treat him better. He nodded for John, both grateful and uneasy.

“I got you away from them, I saved you.” John emphasized this, staring Grant in the eyes unblinking, “I didn’t save you for nothing Grant. You understand? You have a purpose here.”

Grant focused on the kind way John was looking at him, despite his earlier aggression. Neither of the Ward parents had looked at him like this, Christian never had a reason for hurting him. Grant only got hurt worse for protecting Thomas. Now John was the one protecting, and he chose to protect Grant. It was better here; John wanted him strong so he’d be safe. Grant smiled at John, despite the discomfort in his shoulder. John took the smile as a sign of Grant’s understanding, and pulled Grant in to hug him gently.

“I know, Dad. I won’t let you down.” Grant was mumbling into John’s shirt.

“I’m sure you won’t, kiddo. Now,” John pulled Grant away from his chest, “Go take a bath, and soak that shoulder. I don’t want it freezing up on you tomorrow in training. You can eat dinner when you’re done.” John ruffled Grant’s hair as he had earlier in the morning, and pushed Grant off towards the stairs.

Grant limped up, and stared at his bruised shins and knees. He raised his arm up to look at it, staring at the deep discolouration in the shape of John’s hand. He was sore, but more importantly Grant knew, he was stronger than other kids his age. He didn’t get beat up, or made fun of, because of that. He could fight, and he was good at it. The bruises and the soreness were worth the safety his strength and John’s training gave him. He ate dinner like he hadn’t eaten all day, John letting him eat as much pasta and meat-sauce as he wanted. Grant went to bed happy, surprised though when Raina appeared in his room to tuck him in.

“Is everything okay, Raina?” Grant asked as she settled his hydra into his arms.

“I just wanted to ask you if you were okay. Your dad got a littler rougher than usual, huh?”

“Yeah, but it’s okay. It’ll just make me stronger.” Raina seemed uncomfortable with Grant’s answer, smoothing his hair back away from his face, pursing her lips in thought.

“And you’re okay with the cost of that strength, Grant? Can you even understand the price you’re paying for it?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Grant began to sit up, but Raina gently pushed him down, pressing her palm into his uninjured shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it than, Grant. Sleep well.” She left the room, pausing at his door to look back at him. In the light of the hallway, Grant could see she was still making that face. He couldn’t to figure out why, but it seemed familiar.

 

Thursday, Skye was hoping, would be as good as Wednesday had been. Phil had promised to give her a whole hour on the computer tonight. Melinda laughed at another one of her jokes at breakfast. Jemma and Leo had brought books from their rooms they thought Skye would like and she was looking forward to reading them. They got so distracted by talking about books that they missed the bus, surprising Phil when he walked through the living room to go check their rooms. He laughed at them as he herded them into the car to drive them to school, letting Skye try again at the child-safe buckle. She finally figured out how to close it, which meant she was one step closer to getting it off without help. Jemma and Leo cheered her success with her, and they missed Phil snapping another photo of them with his phone.

Arrival to school had been made even better by the discovery that Ian’s family had moved “due to work” and he wouldn’t be in she and Jemma’s class anymore. Skye shoved her excitement down, not wanting to express that in front of Mrs. Johnson. Classes had been interesting, and basically Skye was having a wonderful day. But then at recess, Skye had seen something she knew from experience she wasn’t supposed to see.

She had been playing with her friends again, Trip being an exciting and wonderful addition each day. Grant and Trip had been rough-housing, and when they fell into the grass, Grant’s sleeve was pushed up. Trip had his eyes closed against Grant’s loose grass attack, Jemma and Leo were on the other side of the wrestling boys, but Skye saw it clear as day.

Four dark bruises across Grant’s bicep, a large circular bruise beneath them. It hurt, it had to hurt with the way Grant was trying hard to keep that arm away from Trip who clearly didn’t know.

She knew those bruises. She’d seen them on other kids, and she knew two things about those bruises: Adults hated them being pointed out (especially the ones who put them there) and bruised kids hated them being there (especially when other adults asked about them). She ignored it momentarily, the fear and guilt welling in her guts, and knew she had to ask Grant if he was okay. Hopefully before recess was over.

_Maybe_ , she reasoned, _a bigger kid did it._ _Maybe,_ she wrapped her hand around Grants and pulled him away to hide with her as they sprinted away from whoever was it for hide’n’seek, _he had tripped and someone tried to stop him._ She pulled him into the shade of the trees of the forest where they weren’t supposed to be. _Maybe he’d walked into danger and someone pulled him to safety._

“Grant,” She knew she sounded scared but she couldn’t help it, “Grant, I saw your arm. I won’t tell anyone.” It seemed like the right thing to say. Grant was holding still, too still. Like a cat before it sprinted away or attacked. Skye couldn’t tell if he was angry or scared himself. “Unless you want me to.”

“No!” Grant moved then, grabbing Skye’s arms and whisper shouting. They stared at each other wide eyed, “No, please don’t Skye. It’s alright, it’s not bad, I promise.”

“How’d it happen?” Grant let go of her shoulders, and Skye immediately reached out to brush her hand over the bruise.

“My dad grabbed me to stop me from running into traffic. I was chasing a ball, there was a car coming. I’m okay, Skye.” Skye stared at him, concentrating on what he said like she could peel it apart and see inside of his words, “I’m okay.” Skye dropped her hand. She wasn’t sure. It made sense, it’s what she had thought it might be, hoped it would be. It was a believable answer. She still wasn’t sure, but Grant was still staring at her, eyes wide and afraid and so un-Grant.

“Okay,” Skye dropped her hand, peeking around the tree for the others, “Sorry I pulled you out here. I was scared.” Grant smiled at her, pulling his sleeve down conspicuously.

“Sorry I scared you,” Grant opened his mouth to say something more, but he didn’t seem to know what to say next. They crouched together in the shade, staring towards the playground, neither knowing what to say. Leo, Trip, and Jemma eventually found them but they caught Skye last; when they came at Grant and Skye from behind, Grant had pulled Skye away from their hands and pushed her away like he was trying to protect her.

Before the bell rang, they had all gathered at a bench close to the school. If Skye sat close to Grant’s bruised arm like she was shielding it, neither of them mentioned it and no one else knew.

“Grant, are you coming to the party?”

“Yeah, Trip is coming with me. Is that okay?”

“Yes! It’s super okay! Trip do you know that Grant can sleep over if he wants to, you could too probably!” Jemma leaned towards Trip, shaking his forearm happily.

“I’ll tell my ma for sure, I’d love to hang out with you guys all night. Should I bring anything?”

“Pillow, blanket, and nighties?” Leo supplied, “If we have enough blankets, we wanna build a pillow fort in the living room!”

“Bobbi and Mack are gunna be there, too!” Jemma told Grant and Trip, “They can’t sleep over but they’ll be at the party.”

“Does this mean I can finally ask Leo who Mack is?” Skye asked, surprised when Leo being turning bright red.

“Jemma! Tell me you didn’t tell Skye!”

“No of course not, I thought you could!” Jemma poked Leo’s nose, laughing gleefully. Leo swallowed forcefully and tilted his chin up, refusing to be embarrassed.

“Mack is a bigger kid, he’s twelve and he’s Bobbi’s friend. He like building stuff, and fixes bikes for kids in the neighbourhood. He’s very big, and very nice, and, and,” Leo struggled for a moment, “And he calls me Turbo and thinks I’m smart and likes listening to me talk about building! He the greatest and he likes me best, so there!” Leo crossed his arms and Jemma bent at the middle laughing.

“He sounds super cool!” Skye said, Trip nodding enthusiastically.

“And we’ll get to meet him?” Leo perked up at their interest in his friend.

“He’ll like you guys, too. He likes everyone because he’s just that nice.”

The possibilities of what the five of them could do at a sleepover made Skye forget her worries, excited for Friday and all it promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting to the parts of the story I really want to write. The plot might get kinda scrambled for a bit, hang with me. I promise I know where I want to go. Unfortunately, not every stream is single channel. Sometimes we gotta anastomize our stories. 
> 
> Haha geology jokes.
> 
> I'll show myself out.
> 
> See y'all in who knows when.

**Author's Note:**

> Maternal Melinda makes me weep with joy, so there's an excess of that in this chapter.


End file.
